BMC Benjamin Byron Hill, USN, Ret

BENJAMIN BYRON HILL, USN, RET

WESTFORD – BMC Benjamin Byron Hill, USN, Ret., a 50-year resident of Westford, died peacefully the morning of Nov. 18, 2008, at Green Mountain Nursing Home.

He was born April 5, 1918, in Bristol , Conn., the 2nd of seven children of William Arthur and Madge (Bullock) Hill. He grew up in Montpelier. The depression years in Montpelier were extremely difficult, and Ben worked a paper route in his teens to help support the family.

Ben joined the U.S. Navy in 1937, and was honorably discharged in 1964, proudly serving his country for 27 years, including the dangerous Pacific theater of World War II and the Korean War.

After much traveling, he met the love of his life, Myrtis (Dolly) (originally from Texas), in post-war California and married her on June 30, 1948. His note to her with his wedding gift simply said: "To the loveliest of June Brides. Benny." Dolly predeceased him in 2002.

After living in and seeing many parts of America and the world during his years of Navy service, Ben and his family moved to a permanent home in Westford in 1957, while he finished out his Navy career. He and Dolly encouraged their children into higher education; the subsequent scholastic achievements and levels of education reached made them proud.

After retirement, he loved driving anywhere, anytime, any day – be it random drives around the Green Mountains he had so loved as a boy, providing rides, doing errands, or as a determined long-distance traveler. Mostly during retirement, he hauled auto parts for a longtime friend in the business — along the way, making many new friends all around Vermont, eastern New York and western New Hampshire who still remember him well. He especially enjoyed driving long trips with his wife Dolly later in life to visit her relatives in Texas and friends from his Navy years. It was an activity he could do despite chronic pain from injury.

Ben found pleasure in talking to all sorts of people; while sometimes known to be strongly opinionated, Ben was interested in what people thought and the knowledge they had to share.

The words that people have used most to describe him in later life have almost invariably included "sweet," "kind," and "polite." Always the gentleman in his last days – ingrained from his enlisted days – he even apologized for being unable to escort his sister to the door as she was leaving a week or two before he died. Many of the wonderful staff at Green Mountain Nursing Home (where he resided since February of 2007 and where Dolly also had been) knew him over several years as both a faithful visitor and as a resident and became very fond of him.

He learned to have faith in God, and faith in people, overlooking common slights and faults. When let down or disappointed, he rarely spoke a bad word or held a grudge, but "kept on going."

Ben is survived by: his son Paul Byron Hill and his wife Kam-Lin (Katherine) from Pittsford, N.Y.; his stepson Morris Hicks and his wife Gwen from Hoschton, Ga.; and his daughter Karen O'Neill and her husband Kevin of Essex. He also leaves grandchildren Hadassah Hill and David Hill, and step-grandchildren Mark Gillette, Randy Gillette, Kevin O'Neill, and Elayna O'Neill. He is survived by a sister, Doris Hill, of Hanover, N.H.; he is predeceased by his parents, four brothers, and another sister.

He was a member of The American Legion, Post 100, of Montpelier, a longtime contributing supporter of The Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a charter member of the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation. His picture (matching the one at the top here) and basic service data can be seen at that foundation's Web site.

When asked how he would like to be remembered, Ben's response was that he wanted to be remembered first and foremost as a seaman. Those were his proudest days of achievement. He rose through the grades to the full appointment of rank of Chief Boatswain's Mate (BMC) on July 16, 1945. During his long and faithful service to his country, Benjamin was part of the "greatest generation," serving through WWII in the Pacific Fleet. His seaside duty stations included a troop ship prior to WWII, an escort carrier, and a light cruiser. On the latter, in 1948, he went to China just before the Communist takeover. Back in the States, he posted duty at a recruit depot in Bayonne, N.J. and an ammo facility, also in New Jersey, before serving on an ammunition ship out of San Francisco in the Korean War. He wrapped up his career on the East Coast as a Fleet Ocean tug and oil tanker skipper in Newport, R..I., and finally had various duties in Brunswick, Maine, at the Naval Air Station. Inspiration to serve in the Navy was partly due to growing up in Montpelier: one part of his paper route caused him to pass by the house of Admiral George Dewey, well-remembered then as a great Navy hero. He could never muster up the courage to knock on his door and meet him in person, however.

In the end, Ben had done his honorable duty and served his God, his country, and his family, even to the last. His beloved wife, Dolly, suffered a stroke only nine days prior to their 50th wedding anniversary, and she was confined briefly to a hospital and then GMNH for almost four years before her passing. Ben performed his watch and demonstrated his steadfast love by visiting and staying with her twice-daily for a couple hours at a time almost every single day of those four long years – reading her cards and letters from family and friends, talking to her (even though Dolly could not speak to him in return), or just holding her hand and watching television with her, beginning and ending each visit with a smile and a set of kisses. Only due to serious illness or injury in a car accident on one of his daily trips did he ever miss a day. Ben accepted his faithful visitations as his last full measure of devotion for all her love over the years, stating on several occasions that had the situations been reversed, she would have acted just the same way. Once Dolly died, he was quite lost and very lonely, but only showed the depth of his loss on rare occasions.

Ben will be interred at the Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Randolph next to Dolly (he referred to her many times as his "Texas rose"). He had selected a beautiful hillside site within the cemetery after Dolly died and their plots are forever overlooking the fields and peaceful hills of Vermont, their longtime home for so many of their years together as a couple and raising a family.

Visiting hours will be 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, 2008, at Ready Funeral Home South Chapel, 261 Shelburne Road, Burlington. A memorial service at the chapel of the cemetery followed by interment with full military honors is planned for next spring once the cemetery has its seasonal reopening; an announcement will follow closer to the May date.

Ben's kindnesses and generosity will be remembered by those whom he helped along his way; softening somewhat in demeanor in his post-Navy years, he was basically a gentleman with a quick smile, good manners, and a loving heart. His children invite family, friends, and others whose lives he touched to share thoughts or reminiscences at www.readyfuneral.com. The family asks that as a last tribute and in lieu of flowers please consider a contribution to the U..S. Navy Memorial Foundation, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled Veterans Association, or the Salvation Army.