Mrs. Marie Irene Hill

1922 – 2014

Marie Irene Hill passed away peacefully and gracefully surrounded by the ones she laughed with, lived

for and loved on November 2, 2014. As the sun set on All Souls’ Day, Marie joined husband Henry ‘Bud’ Hill and daughter Carolyn Hill Ceresa.

Marie was born in Fresno, California on May 23, 1922. She was the second child of Andrew Ditommaso and Francesca Scelzi. She graduated from Fresno High School in 1940 and just a few weeks later, married her only love and soul mate Henry ‘Bud’ Hill. They were married for 66 years until his passing.

Born in an era when being a wife and mother was expected of a women, Marie made it an art form. Marie surrounded her husband and children with family values and traditions that made a permanent impression on their lives. Laundry on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, marketing on Saturday and dinner

promptly served at 5:30 every evening. But don’t be fooled by this seemingly unassuming housewife and mother. While she held firm to schedules and routine – there was nothing routine about her. This was not a women who stood meekly behind her big strong husband, she was a force to be reckoned with. She was a true partner in her marriage, her opinions and ideas were always important and most often she had the final word. Nothing was more important to Marie than her family. When their oldest child Carolyn died in 1985, it was the strength and bond of family that kept us moving forward.

Marie was a gourmet cook, an elegant seamstress and a fashion statement. Never one to leave the house, even at 92 years old, without being completely ‘fluffed, buffed and puffed’ as we fondly teased her about. She was a talented needlework artist who gifted her works to those she loved, that we may treasure in her memory.

She is preceded in death by her parents, beloved husband and best friend ‘Bud’, brother Vito, and daughter Carolyn.

She is survived by her son Henry “Buddy” Hill and daughter-in-law Charlotte of San Diego, CA;

daughters Randi Hill of Fresno, Wendy and son-in-law Bruce T. Batti of Fresno; grandchildren

Beth Sorenson and her husband Joe, Brent Hill and his wife Joy, Bailey Anne Batti and Jordan Marie

Batti; great-grandchildren Keith, Troy and Laerke Sorenson, and Lucy, Maximus and Zachary Hill, and

sister Margaret Campanile Anderholm of Santa Rosa, CA.

Recitation of the Holy Rosary and a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church on Monday, November 10, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. Private Entombment.

Remembrances may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or

California Armenian Home – Fresno, CA. (Please Indicate Building Fund.)