Granville Wayne Hill

August 9, 1938 – October 6, 2022

A chapel service for Granville will be held Tuesday, October 18, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mortuary, 9101 Kern Canyon Road, Bakersfield, CA 93306, followed by a committal service from 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM. Our stubborn, funny, feisty, (Granville) Wayne Hill reluctantly passed away, but is now with his son, Kevin.

Granville Wayne Hill was born in Tulare, California on August 9, 1938 to Otis and Cecil Hill (later known as Cecil Kimbriel). He moved with his family to Bakersfield in 1944. At the mere age of ten-years-old, Wayne lost his father, leaving him and his mother to run their farm on Brimhall and Calloway. He had to quickly grow up and become the “man of the house”, spending his days caring for and protecting his six-year-old brother, the farm, and his mother. However, that did not stop him from pursuing his passions, his sense of wonder, and his personal growth. If anything, his “lack of childhood” made him more eager, gregarious, ambitious, and intelligent. Wayne received his pilot’s license and bought a plane at the young age of sixteen-years-old (as did his son, Kevin). Also at sixteen, Wayne got a job at Mom Bell (AT&T) in Bakersfield. He worked there for sixteen years while finishing high school, obtaining an electrical engineer bachelor’s degree, studying pre-med, and going on to conquer another challenge…medical school. In 1960, Annette Gorham made her grand entrance into Wayne’s life at a location known as the “Mystery Spot” in Santa Cruz, California. Eight months later on April 1, 1961, Annette and Wayne got married (aka April Fool’s Day, which is highly ironic if you know Wayne’s knack for sarcasm and humor).

Wayne and Annette were blessed with three beautiful children, Gary, Lori, and Kevin. Having a family only made Wayne want to pursue more for them. He always had an itch to keep building, to keep growing, to keep learning, to keep moving, to keep living. The Hill Family moved around the world (over twenty cities and three countries) chasing towards Wayne’s goals and growing together as a family. When Wayne didn’t know things, he would go on endless pursuits to not only find answers but to always find the source of the initial problem. He devoured books even until his final days (the last thing he wanted was a manual on his new iPhone!). He always shined as the brightest man in the room and loved to provoke conversations, which makes it no surprise that he studied for and passed the bar exam just to see if he could (since being a full-time doctor, father, and husband wasn’t hard enough). However, his real passion was always medicine, and Wayne finally found a good challenge that kept up with his ambitious lifestyle by becoming an emergency room doctor. After years of adrenaline and excitement, it finally got the best of him, so he decided to settle down and build a medical practice in Oklahoma. Wayne then brought the first MRI unit to Bakersfield, California in the 1980’s. Although he finally retired (okay, sort of retired) in the late 1990s, if you know Wayne, then you know it’s not in his nature to stop working… so he was always exploring new adventures until his latter days.

He is survived by his beloved wife Annette Hill, his brother Donald Hill and his wife Lynn; his son Gary Hill and his wife Kathleen; his daughter Lori Hill Feghali and her husband Elie Feghali; seven grandchildren and their spouses: Ryan and Michele Feghali, Tiana Feghali, Mariah Feghali, Josh and Heather Hill, Lindsey and Ronnie Brown, Christian Hill, and Mathew Hill; and 6 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his son Kevin Hill and his parents.

The family would like to give a very special thank you to all the friends and family who stuck by our Wayne throughout his lifetime. We are very grateful for your years of friendship and love for the family.

Wayne/dad/grandpa/great-grandpa you will be missed, but live on in our hearts forever. We love you!!

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hillcrestmemorial.com for the Hill family.