Beulah "Boots" Wagner Hill

Beulah Agnes Wagner Hill, known as “Boots” from an early age, passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 4, 2025, after a long battle with Parkinson’s. Her passing was a blessing, and her family takes comfort knowing she is now whole again in Heaven, free from the disease that marked her final years.

Born on August 21, 1941, in Lake Lure, North Carolina, Boots grew up in Lake Lure with her parents, Ross and Alma Wagner, and seven surviving siblings - Ervin, Howard, Dave, and Curtis Wagner; Rachel Jackson, Ruby Wright Chatham, and Doris Van Wagenen - who helped shape the strength that became her trademark. She attended Rutherford-Spindale Central High School and was crowned Miss Lake Lure in 1958 with her winning smile. She was very much the same person at 84 that she was at 16.

Boots married her high school sweetheart, Neal Hill, in 1960, and they had two children, Pam Patrick and Phil Hill. On a serious note, Boots insisted on providing the children a warm breakfast every morning, but the children also learned that if they could make Mom laugh, they could get away with just about anything. That is how Phil managed to bring a boa constrictor home from college and how pro wrestling became a Christmas Day family activity.

After earning an associate’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill and working as a dental technician for Dr. Zaytoun, Boots moved west with her young family and began working at the University of Utah with the pioneering team developing the first artificial heart transplant, supporting Drs. Wolff, Jarvik, and DeVries. The work also included early development of the first artificial sphincter, a medically important development, but one that you were probably not expecting to read here.

Boots later built a full life in Georgia, watching her family grow through Pam and her husband Steve and their children Brian and Will, and through Phil and his wife Emily and their daughters Hillary, Betsy, and Olivia. Through Betsy, Boots had two great-grandchildren, Logan and Emily Elizabeth, who brought her great joy.

Boots remained active well into adulthood, especially on the tennis court, where she competed with and often outplayed women decades younger. Her ALTA team won the Atlanta City Championship in 2003, a highlight she treated with her characteristic mix of pride and understatement. Boots also pulled herself up by her bootstraps post-divorce and worked as a real estate title administrator.

From 1995 until 2002, Boots was married to Tom Tokos, known as Pappy to the grandchildren. Tom provided a boisterous laugh and energy to the relationship.

Her life included true hardship, from losing a childhood home to fire, to navigating divorce and bankruptcy, to the loss of Tom to lung cancer. And in the last 13 years, she endured strokes and Parkinson’s with an extraordinary resilience. A hospice nurse once said she had never met someone with so much spirit that providing a prognosis became nearly impossible.

For the past 22 years, Boots shared a devoted and loving partnership with Courtney LaFon. They traveled widely and lived life well. Boots also loved gardening and walking in her neighborhood, and she was proud of multiple "yard of the month" awards. During Boots’s health decline, Courtney was steadfastly at her side, a constant presence in the hard moments and a source of comfort and companionship throughout.

In her final years, Pam oversaw her mother’s daily care with the wonderful team at Serenity Falls, visiting nearly every day. People who met Boots late in life, whether neighbors, Sunday School classmates, nurses, or aides, still found themselves drawn in by the same smile and spirit that had carried her from Lake Lure to the end of her journey. Even her beloved dog Buttons, her companion for seventeen years, seemed to understand that Boots was someone worth staying close to.

Boots leaves behind a legacy of charm and spirit that surprised even the professionals. She lived fully, loved deeply, and kept her sense of humor to the end.

Boots was predeceased by her parents Ross and Alma Wagner; her siblings Marilyn (infant), Ervin, Howard, and Dave Wagner; and her spouse Tom Tokos. She is survived by her siblings, Curt Wagner, Rachel Jackson, Ruby Wright Chatham, and Doris Van Wagenen; her siblings' families; her five grandchildren and two great grandchildren; and her partner, Courtney LaFon.

Memorials can be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research at https://www.michaeljfox.org or to Transitions LifeCare at https://www.transitionslifecare.org.