Earl Edward Hill Jr.

Earl Edward Hill Jr. was born in Miles City, Montana in July of 1931. He was the oldest of three sons to Earl Edward Hill Sr. and Elizabeth Campbell Anderson Hill. Earl Sr. directed highway construction wherever roads were needed, so the family lived in numerous towns throughout Montana. Earl and his brothers Ray and Jim attended different elementary and middle schools almost every year. During World War II the boys and their mother lived in Idaho and Washington State while their father constructed military airports on the West Coast.

Their postwar address was back in Miles City where they attended schools and were within walking distance of their Grandmother Anderson. Earl graduated in the upper 10th of his class from Custer County High School in Miles City. He was on the homecoming court, an actor and singer in the production of the HMS Pinafore, President of the Student Council, and one of three delegates to Montana Boys State.

Earl accepted an appointment to the Naval Academy in 1949, where he joined the Crew team (he just missed going to the Olympics with the team), sang in the choir, and graduated top third in the Class of ’53 with a Bachelors in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. He was selected for US Navy Pre-Flight training in Pensacola, but later opted to change course and enroll in the Electronic Material Officers Course and Missile Electronics in Treasure Island, California.

It was here that he met his future wife, Ardath Chamberlin, when she visited as chaperone for her older Sister Beth (Dad always chuckled when he remembered that fact), who was engaged to a fellow student Bob Mizelle. The four of them became best buddies, and soon became in-laws when Ardath and Earl were married in Sioux City, Iowa in November 1955.

After a Gunnery Department Cruise on the USS Baltimore, and a Pacific tour with the 7th fleet, Earl worked on upgrading guns on Mare Island where Ardath joined him in base housing. They then moved to Bremerton WA, where Earl mothballed his ship. Earl rounded out his Navy career on the USS Norton Sound testing missile systems.

He left the Navy in 1958 to join Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA to design missile control software for the SAGE air defense system. Earl became a “plank-owner” in the MITRE Massachusetts Institute of Technology “Reject” Engineers, as they jokingly called themselves (really Research Engineers). From 1960 to 1964, Earl was the site Leader for MITRE at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs.

Through all their moves each of their four children was born in a different state, Bruce in California, Molly in Massachusetts, Becky in Iowa, and Doug in Colorado.

From 1964 to 1967, Earl accepted an offer to work in support of NATO, based out of the US Embassy in Paris, France. The family traveled extensively throughout Europe in their VW Bus, skiing, camping, and visiting all the great sights.

After a final epic VW tour through Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece, the whole family, including Grandmother Chamberlin, cruised back to the United States on the SS United States ocean liner in 1967, and soon settled in Annandale, Virginia. Earl worked for MITRE on many fabulous projects, including the Northeast Corridor High Speed Transportation project, supporting NASA, and working on several satellites, including the first generation TDRS satellites, a full-size model of which still hangs in the Air and Space Museum.

Earl was a very involved father and a reliable volunteer, as soccer coach for the kids’ teams and with the Boy Scouts. He also took the kids to numerous air shows, museums, and military concerts and fairs. The family took numerous road trips, camping and sightseeing all across the US. There was also building and finishing off an A-frame in Ocean Pines, Maryland, which became a base for numerous beach vacations and family reunions over the years.

Both Ardath and Earl were a big part of both the Stone Haven Home Association and the Canterbury Woods Swim Club, serving on the executive boards, instrumental in building the tennis courts and parking lots.

In 1976, Earl got an assignment in Germany where he was able to live with his brother Ray and wife Barb, and Doug attended 8th grade there. He returned to Virginia and earned a Master’s Degree from George Washington University. Earl and Ardath moved to Oahu (1981-1983) where Earl worked on Pacific Theater Defense Communications. They also did some golfing, and enjoyed visits from all the friends and family to enjoy the beaches and Hawaiian sites.

Earl retired from MITRE in 1996. With his newfound free time, he became very involved in framing all of Ardath’s numerous paintings, and carting them to all sorts of shows and gallery events. They also did a wonderful job watching grandchildren Logan and Becca while Molly worked as a flight attendant. Friends and family were always welcome to come and visit, in Annandale or at the Ocean Pines vacation home, whether for an hour or a month.

Later in his retirement Earl spent significant time indulging his very strong interest in archeology. He had a real curiosity regarding when ancient America was settled and by whom. Going beyond just contacting and encouraging scholars studying those questions, he helped further their studies by directly funding digs and testing for DNA and carbon dating. He also wrote letters to Native American Indian tribes, the Smithsonian, and other institutions, making the case for the release of artifacts artifacts so they could be tested and shed light on their origins, with some successes to his credit.

Ardath, his wife of 66 years, passed after a long battle with Alzheimer’s in October 2021. Earl was just getting comfortable living on his own, signing on as secretary for the Naval Academy class of 1953 and planning a trip to Colorado, when he suffered a major stroke and passed away on August 24th, 2022.

Earl leaves a large family including his brother Jim and family in North Carolina, his children Bruce, Molly, Becky, and Doug and all of their families, including seven grandchildren (Logan, Becca, Jed Zack, Andy, Jason, and Michelle), and two great grandchildren (Wyatt and Jocelyn).

Earl was a consummate gentleman, living up to his name as a man of noble rank. On top of the latest scientific discoveries, flowing with wonderful stories and information, and able to repair just about anything, he was always there to lend a hand or offer wise advice. A true Renaissance man, he is fondly remembered and sorely missed by everyone he touched.

For more information on the services please contact Becky Hill Diller at 303-514-9301 or [email protected]