Willie C Hill

Willie served in the U.S. Army in the early 50's, and in 1957, married his high school sweetheart, Shirley J. Rockwell. In 1960, their oldest son Donald Anton was born. At that time, Willie was a bus driver for the Chicago Transit Authority, and in 1962, when the family moved to Los Angeles, he continued as a driver for L.A.'s Rapid Transit District.

Just 11 days after his 34th birthday, he received a birthday present in the person of Courtney Dwayne. Around that same time, he and Shirley both enrolled at UCLA where he graduated in 1972 with a degree in Computer Science. He worked in that field for the County of Los Angeles until he and Shirley moved to Las Vegas. He was employed as a Computer Analyst at Clark County until his retirement in January 2004.

Willie and Shirley always loved camping and did quite a lot of it when their children were growing up. When they were empty nesters, they upgraded their camper to a luxurious RV--it was Willie's pride and joy! They traveled to many places including New Orleans, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and even trekked across Alaska. Willie and Shirley took a cross-country tour to Alabama and Chicago in the RV before Shirley's demise, and after that, he took to the road with friends a few times. As much as he loved driving, he really became a "world traveler" in recent years, taking trips with Courtney and his better half Marge and Marge's family. They went to Mexico, Canada, Peru, Brazil, Philippines, Ecuador, and toured Europe. Just this past Thanksgiving, the family went on a cruise to the Caribbean. He traveled to his granddaughter Andrea's wedding in Jamaica, and visited her, Howie, and his great-grandchildren in Indiana. When asked what he did since he retired, his answer was: "as little as possible!"

Willie and Shirley housed many family members who followed them in their westward migration. Willie was always the patient host--once even serving as father of the bride to give a niece away (Dianne Gamble). Willie lived a great, full life.

He is survived by his two sons, Donald and Courtney (Marge Kawi); granddaughter Dr. Andrea (Howie Anderson); great-grandchildren Howard III, Harold, and Hayden; sister Cynthia Simpson; sister-in-law Joan Rockwell; Aunt Ruth Hodo; and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.