James Rohner Hillas

James Hillas Obituary
James Rohner Hillas, beloved husband, father, and friend, passed away peacefully at home with his wife beside him on May 16th, 2024. Jim was born on February 12th, 1952, in Wethersfield, Connecticut. The youngest of four children, Jim spent most of his youth in Glenview, Illinois. He had a well-rounded childhood filled with athletics and academics and was always striving to keep up with his older siblings. He spent summers at the shore in Avalon, NJ, in Maine, and at Camp Tecumseh, on Lake Winnipesaukee, where he later served as a camp counselor.
Jim followed a long line of Hillas men––father, brothers, uncles, and cousins––to Dartmouth College. He was a member of the varsity swim team and Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, on which the movie, National Lampoon's Animal House, was based. When his children would complain about late pickups, Jim told stories of the days when he would hitchhike his way home from New Hampshire to Illinois at the semester's end. Jim was a kind, humble, and compassionate man, as well as an intellectually curious one. He was an avid reader and a man of many interests. Jim enjoyed being a pilot, an interest gained from his father's experience as a fighter pilot in World War II. He enjoyed golfing with his friends and colleagues. He was a Big Brother while living in Columbus, Ohio and continued his mentorship well into his married years. He was also a world-traveler. While in college, he spent his summers immersing himself in new cultures, earning his own way around the world by working as a school bus driver at Dartmouth and even as a model, while living in Japan. Jim was recruited to work at Bethlehem Steel after college. He would then go on to join Steelcase, Inc., where he met his wife, Arlene. The majority of his career was spent as an Executive at Feroleto Steel in CT, where he would work for nearly 30 years. There, the employees became a second family to Jim and remained so even after his retirement in 2018.
Jim and Arlene raised three beautiful children together in Woodbridge, CT. Jim was the grill master and made pancakes every weekend that wasn't already consumed by soccer, swimming, softball, squash, or piano. He taught each one of his children to drive a stick shift so that they wouldn't text and drive. He organized family vacations to favorite places such as Skytop Lodge, Virginia Beach, Lake Tahoe, and Montana's Flathead Lake Lodge. As a precursor to the fun, he always added an educational component, like dressing up for a battle reenactment at Yorktown or learning to make bricks at Colonial Williamsburg in the sweltering heat! Jim loved spending time with his family. He looked forward to the large, annual Thanksgiving celebration hosted by his uncle, Rod Hillas in Pennsylvania and, in later years, by his brother Rob in Princeton, New Jersey. There he reunited with his siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews over competitive football games, multiple turkeys, favored tea sandwiches, and endless dessert options.
He is survived by his loving wife of 36 years, Arlene Giordano Hillas; daughter Lindsay Marie Hillas (Alisha Ducatte); daughter Jamie Alexandra Hillas (Joseph Kizel); son Alec James Hillas; brother Roland Hillas III (Chuenchit Hillas); sister Wendy Miller; and sister-in-law Linda Giordano and Cynthia Hillas; along with many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He is predeceased by his brother Robert Stanbrough Hillas, and parents, Roland A Hillas Jr. and Mary Rogers Hillas.
A celebration of his life will be held at West Haven Funeral Home on May 30th at 4:00pm.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Mount Sinai Movement Disorders Center in his name using the website link https://giving.mountsinai.org/goto/IMOJamesRHillas. The care Jim received at Mount Sinai from Dr. Vicki Shanker and her team was exceptional.
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