Henry Vernard Hillman

Henry Vernard Hillman was born to Henry B. and Wilmere G. Hillman on July 10, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eldest of a sibship of 5, he would often say that his mother was his best friend and life was never the same after her passing. He found Christ at an early age and was baptized in July 1949 and received the Holy Ghost in May 1959.

Henry was smart, outgoing and athletic, he graduated from CVS (Chicago Vocational School) on the south side of Chicago. He ran track and played football. It was often noted that he was the fastest running back on his team. Upon graduation, Henry joined the U.S Army in 1965 and served his country as a medic overseas. The Army gave Henry an award of Achievement for being an outstanding medic in 1967. Also, during this time, Henry was recruited to be on the U.S. Army basketball team and he would boast on how great his dunk was for a man of 5’11. He was honorably discharged in 1967.

When Henry came back from the service, he began working at IBM and remained there until his retirement in 1997. Henry was a trailblazer, he worked in an industry that was new to everyone. The creation of the computer. IBM was called the big blue machine. His counterparts, were not of his same racial background and he faced many challenging moments because of his skin color. As a direct result of these challenges, Henry decided he needed to remain competitive. Therefore, he return to school and obtained his Bachelor’s of Arts Degree at Governors State University in 1977. In his last year of his undergraduate studies, he excelled and received the Who’s Who Among Students at Colleges and Universities. He was strong, bold, and aggressive and made his mark in this company winning many awards and rose amongst the ranks. His 30 year career taught so many of us especially his family how to persevere under taxing times.

Not long after his retirement from IBM, Henry moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to live his best life. And in his normal fashion, he could not keep still. He began working for the Clark County School District driving a bus. He mainly drove the sports activity bus for the children of the district. The School District awarded Henry with the Achievement of Best Driver of the Year for the school year of 2006-2007. He had a passion for everything he did but it was also a way for him to stay active and be close to kids that reminded him of his grandchildren and all of their activities that he use to attend.

While in Vegas, he developed many long lasting friendships and met his wife, Melody Trent of California. Henry was a man that loved golf, his Harley motorcycle and taking many road trips. He played his favorite game of “Acquire” with his buddies of over 50 years, he enjoyed his motorhome and being with his family. He loved his girls and his grandchildren. There was never a conversation he would have with anyone without talking about his family.

Henry departed this earth on July 9, 2021, one day before his 78th birthday. He has left a whole in many people lives. He will be missed.

He leaves behind his wife Melody Trent- Hillman; his daughters Angela Hamilton (Stanley), Lauren Brown (Seon) and Jasmine Collins; 9 grandchildren; Alphonzo “Ricky”, Aja, Aaron, Alyssa, Christian, Destyne, Seon II, Ava and Landon. Two sisters; Sarah Walton of Chicago and Kathleen McCall of Las Vegas; 1 brother; Michael Hillman (Carmen) of Chicago and 1 brother who proceeded him death; Timothy Hillman (Deborah Faye); Mother-in Law; Erma Cotton (Jamar); Three sister- in- laws; April Frye, Kathy Trent, Elizabeth Cotton (Jayton) and 1 brother- in-law; Theodore Trent (Adriana). And a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and great friends.