Dean Hill's Obituary
DEAN EMERSON HILL died in his sleep December 10, 2010. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Lee Sneed Hill, in January 2007. Mary Lee and Dean were married for 60 years and had three children, Linder Hill of Memphis, TN, Patricia Hill of Malibu, CA and Richard Hill of Memphis. They had one grandchild, Wyatt Meyer of Malibu. Mr. Hill was born in Flint, MI. His parents were Emerson and Mable Hill. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture. During World War II. Mr. Hill served four years in various U.S. camps where he was an instructor in architecture and engineering. In his tour at Ft. Belvoir, VA, he served as an officer/insturctor in engineering. Mr. Hill met his wife, Mary Lee, while he was stationed in Memphis at the 2nd Army Headquarters. They were married in Oxford, MS and then moved to Memphis where Mr. Hill was employed by Walk C. Jones Architect. A few years later, Mr. Hill opened his own architectural office specializing in the design of schools and churches. During his career, Mr. Hill designed over 30 churches, 6 complete schools, 25 private homes and 60 commercial buildings. He won a number of local and national awards for those designs. Mr. Hill was very committed to his church, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and the conference Methodist Mission program. He served co-chairman of the VIM program for eight years helping to build churches in several Caribbean and Africa countries. Over the years he also served in every major church office and was an Adult Sunday school teacher for over thirty years. Mr. Hill loved to travel, whether it was providing missionary assistance or just being tourist. He, his wife and his children literally traveled all over the world. Mr. Hill’s other passion was working with deaf children. He served as president of the Memphis Speech and Hearing Center as well as several other hearing organizations. In recognition of his service, he was made an Honorary Lifetime member of the Speech and Hearing Center’s Board. Committed to service, Mr. Hill also served as president of Handicapped Inc. His favorite service club was the Exchange club where he served as club president and later state president. While he was state president, he traveled across Tennessee visiting local clubs. As part of his presentation he lectured about local folk songs and Mary Lee sang them. Their high point together was performing at the National Exchange Convention in New Orleans. A memorial service for Mr. Hill will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, December 17, at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 480 S. Highland. Preceding this service, at 10 a.m., the family will have a reception in the church’s parlor. The family requests that any memorials be donated to St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
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