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WILLIAM MAURY HILL

William Maury Hill of Richmond and Ware Neck, Virginia, died on July 10, 2019.

Born on July 27, 1921 to Julien Harrison Hill and Lucy Colden DeLancey Kearny Hill, he was the youngest of six sisters and a brother. Billy graduated from St. Christopher’s School and the University of Virginia, where he was captain of the 1942 football team and Secretary-Treasurer of College. 

In World War II, Billy served as a First Lieutenant with the 445th Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force, and performed 35 missions in the European Theater of Operations. A B-24 pilot, Billy safely crash-landed during the Battle of the Bulge, and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. After fighting alongside over 3,000 other Allied aircraft on a Christmas Eve mission in 1944, Billy wrote in his journal, “It was really an amazing, inspiring & awesome sight—planes everywhere you looked. All were hitting little targets in German communication centers & rail junctions, etc. … You felt like after all you are doing something to help out in this war.”

After being honorably discharged, Billy took a job at Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co., where he met Ruth Nelson Johns, whom he married in 1953. Billy spent 10 years working at the Bank of Virginia, and in 1968 became a stockbroker at J.C. Wheat & Co., where he remained until his retirement at the age of 87.

Billy was deeply involved in his local community, and was chosen by the Mayor of Richmond to chair the committee that built the Richmond Coliseum. He served as President of the Deep Run Hunt Club, President of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia, President of the Richmond German, and on the boards of the Boys Club of Richmond, the American Heart Association, the Country Club of Virginia, and the Commonwealth Club. He was also a member at the Ware River Yacht Club and the Nantucket Yacht Club.

Billy was a fine horseman who rode to the hounds. He was an outrider for the Gold Cup and, for 18 years, whipper-in at the Deep Run Hunt Club. A faithful member of St. Bridget Catholic Church, Billy was a model of steadfastness, kindness, and good humor.

Billy was preceded in death by his son, William Maury Hill Jr., who died running in the Richmond Marathon in 1981. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ruth; son, Thomas Johns Hill and his wife Kemp; daughters, Anne “Nancy” Hill Goodall and her husband Ches, and Ruth Hill Klinck; grandchildren, Aubrey Gray Ford, William Harrison Hill, William Maury Ford, Matthew Kearny Hill and his wife Karen, Edward Passano Hill and his wife Margaret, Virginia Hill Butler and her husband Dan, Jessie Chapman Klinck, McChesney Goodall IV, Philip Kearny Klinck, and Mason Page Klinck.

The Hill family wishes to extend its deep gratitude to Mary, Nita, and Raquel for their wonderful care of Billy. Many thanks also to Phalla, Tan, Kimberlyn, Leah, and Nikki for their gentle care.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 13 at St. Bridget Catholic Church, 6006 Three Chopt Road. Interment was in Hollywood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the William Maury Hill Jr. Scholarship at St. Bridget School, 6006 Three Chopt Road, Richmond, Va. 23226 or the William Maury Hill Jr. Scholarship at St. Christopher’s School, 711 St. Christopher’s Road, Richmond, Va. 23226.