Gladys Elmyra Hill

Gladys Elmyra Hill Marine City Gladys Elmyra Hill passed away peacefully in her home on Thursday, June 5, 2008, at the age of 89. She was born to Albert and Daisy Hartley Keck on Easter Sunday, April 20, 1919 in the Bay County rural community of Crump. Her birthday never again in her lifetime fell on Easter Sunday. As a youngster, Gladys and her family lived briefly in Detroit and then moved to Robert's Landing, Michigan. She would tell of roller skating as a child on M-29 from her home to attend Cherry Beach School. She was president of the Marine City High School Class of 1936 where she was also president of the National Honor Society and class valedictorian. She excelled in sports, particularly track, baseball and basketball. To this day she holds the St. Clair County record for the standing long jump. As a teenager she swam across the St. Clair River at Robert's Landing with her brother following beside her in a row boat. Gladys was inducted into the Marine City High School Sports Hall of Fame on September 19, 2003. Gladys was a lifelong member of the Marine City First United Methodist Church, a lifetime member of the Emily Ward Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, and a twenty-year employee and retiree from Marine Bank and Trust. Gladys was an avid supporter of Marine City and its schools. She had a wonderful sense of humor, was known for her honesty and sense of right, and was a behind the scenes helper for those less fortunate. All who knew her enjoyed her fresh baked molasses cookies that only she could make. In 1937 she married James Donald Hill whom she met when her best friend, Hazel Hill, invited her to her home to meet her family. Together she and Don raised a family of seven children: James Donald Hill, Jr. (Margaret), Mary Lou (Donald) Gramer, Sandra L. Holladay (Joseph), Sally A. Vogel (Gerald), Carol L. Harris (Vernon), Dean W. Hill and special friend, Celeste Conflitti, and Dennis M. Hill (Catherine). Don passed away February 25, 1982. Gladys' three siblings have predeceased her: Evelyn Keck McGraw, Elmer "Al" Keck and Florence Keck Silvey. She is survived by her loving immediate family numbering sixty-three persons including grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her brother-in-law, Dudley Brown, as well as many nieces and nephews. Her friends were many, including special friend, Marion McKellar, and her loving caregivers, Tina Burns, Leasa Tranchemontagne, Sandy Salisbury, Renee Yancy, Eleanor Dornoff and Charlotte Kliemann. Services will take place on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in Bower-Rose Funeral Home, Marine City, with the Reverend Deane B. Wyllys officiating. Pallbearers will be her grandsons, James, Steven, J.D. and Kyle Hill, William Johnson, and great-grandson, Justin Fisher. Honorary pallbearer will be grandson, Robert D. Gramer. Interment will follow in Maple Grove Cemetery, Starville. Gladys' family will receive visitors in the funeral home on Saturday from 6-9 p.m. and Sunday 2-3 p.m. Remembrances may be made to the Marine City Scholarship Foundation, the Louis Miller Library, or to Maple Grove Cemetery Association c/o Fred and Donna Nowland of East China, Michigan.