Hill, Barbara Gene (Marshall) 1938-2005

HILL, MARSHALL, WILMOTH, NEWTON

Posted By: Debbie Nash (email)
Date: 2/15/2005 at 17:59:12

Barbara Gene Marshall Hill
February 15, 2005

-Paid Obituary-

Barbara Gene Marshall Hill, 66, passed away at her daughter's home in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, February 5, 2005, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

A celebration of her life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, March 12 at the Richland Methodist Church in Richland, Iowa, with Pastor Kim Gates and Pastor James Cecil of the Fairfield Foursquare Gospel Church offering words of comfort.

Barbara was born March 12, 1938 in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Robert E. and Lucy E. Marshall. Though she had Virginia roots, she was also raised in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland.

Barbara graduated from Salisbury State Teacher's College, Maryland, with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. Later, while living in Syracuse, she began graduate work at Syracuse University. Her teaching career spanned from 2nd graders in Bel Air, Maryland, to 7th and 8th graders in Syracuse, and finally to adults attaining their G.E.D. and E.S.L. in Fairfield, Iowa.

Along the way she also served as Program Director for the American Cancer Society in Youngstown, Ohio, and contracted as an independent Funding/Marketing Director for the Dumont's Dreamworld Museum in Sigourney, Iowa.

In October 1960, she married Randall C. Hill, in Bel Air, Maryland, just two months and four days after they met. Randall preceded her in death by twelve years. During their life together, Barbara and Randall raised three children, living in New York, Ohio, and finally settling down in Iowa.

Barbara received several awards throughout her career. She won the Iowa International Reading Association's 1993 Literacy Award and the Van Buren/Jefferson County Reading Council's Celebrate Literacy Award. She was the only employee in the history (as of 1973) of the Mahoning County Cancer Society to receive an award from volunteers. She also received several national awards for programs and radio/TV spots for the Cancer Society.

Barbara had a wide variety of interests and hobbies. She researched the family's origins and compiled her information in a Marshall/Hill genealogy book. She also enjoyed travel, nature, photography, gardening, rock hounding, and music of all styles. For more than a decade, she regularly attended the Iowa City Jazz Festival held on Independence Day weekend. She participated in numerous civic projects, including the Richland chapter of Trees Forever.

She is survived by one son, Brian Hill, and wife Lori of Fairfield, Iowa; two daughters, Valerie Hill Wilmoth, and husband Chris of Dallas, Texas, and Susan Hill Newton, and husband Jamie of Denver, Colorado; and three granddaughters, Keiara Hill of Fairfield, Iowa, Bronwyn Wilmoth of Dallas, Texas, and Estella Newton of Denver, Colorado.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be donated to the Richland Iowa Public Library for the purchase of a table and other items for their genealogy section or to the Richland chapter of Trees Forever for their landscaping project on the new Richland Community Center. The family requests that all donations be made out to these organizations, but need to be sent directly to Valerie Hill at 9446 Angleridge Rd., Dallas, TX. 75238. Once all have been collected, Valerie will see that the donations are made in Barbara's honor.

Courtesy of the Fairfield Daily Ledger Inc. 2005