I was very sad to learn of Bob's passing, but grateful it was quick and not difficult.  I always considered Bob an uncle rather than a cousin because he was always an elder Hiller that I looked up to.  
    I still remember him, Harold and Sol from those Passover gatherings in Long Beach when I was a little boy.  I have been privileged to know and interact with him for decades since.
   In the past few years, we'd chat--mostly Bob chatting--at length and he'd give me updates of all the family members, generation by generation.  The times Carol and I visitd him in Florida were always a joy.
     I've always known him from a distance, and in every interaction be it in person and by phone he was always positive, spoke little about himself and much more about the family he loved.
    We are grateful that we were able to "attend" the funeral.  In addition to hearing the many comments and details about Bob from his dear family members, we also we able to see and hear those family members that we don't see often or whom we've never met or remember.
   R.I.P. dear cousin.

My good cousin Bob never lost his boyhood smile.  He was like Flaco the Owl. Everyone who met up with him loved him. I knew Bob for 90 years, as boyhood playmates, schoolmates, camp mates, college mates, as mates in codger-hood and across three states where we lived close by. 

We were baseball teammates on the Sharks municipal league team in Long Beach in our shiny blue warm-up jackets. We swam across the large lake and back at summer camp to visit the girls’ side. We both pledged the Phi Sigma Delta fraternity at college, where we and a few others esteemed ourselves the Intellectual Giants.

We both observed religious traditions, Bob maybe more so than I. Once on Yom Kippur, I suggested we take a break from services and walk the few blocks to my house. I wanted to play a newly acquired 78 rpm disk of Round Midnight by Cootie Williams. Bob let me know he was impatient to get back to schul.

Bob remained in the New York metro to run the family business with Harold, while Mary Lee and I relocated to Florida. When Bob moved to Hunter’s Run, we sometimes visited there and where we lived on an unbridged, ungated island reached only by a jury-rigged ferry or private skiff. We had fun!

In 2021, Mary Lee and I moved to Cobb County, Georgia. After Bob himself relocated to nearby Atlanta, we  soon met at home with Elise and John. How much we loved that afternoon! I marveled how, despite his physical condition, Bob’s outlook was all here and now. When Vicki called the other day, I thought it was Elise calling to schedule dinner for the five of us, as we had talked of doing. I had emailed Bob about wanting to learn more about Aunt Bea's side of the family. I remembered the socialites Harry and Flo Feuer (sp), and the quieter Uncle Manny who worked for government.

I am sorry that dinner will not happen as planned.

It’s strange to lose someone with such a good heart as Bob. 

We are with you all in Bob's memory.

When I think of a person who was the embodiment of a true mensch, I think of Bob. He was kind, honest, very bright, funny and a good soul. Imagine what this world would be like if everyone had Bob’s traits. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to him. I hope he finds my dad, Harold, Estelle and Jerry Kerner in heaven.

Condolences to the Hiller family. We have lost a long time Union friend. His life has been a blessing to us. He will be missed. 
Love to the Hiller family,
Len and Mimi Levine

OBITUARIO

Bob Hiller

28 agosto, 1930 – 22 febrero, 2024

Schwartz Brothers-Jeffer Memorial Chapels

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