In remembrance of Robert C. Hill (1940-2021)

Bob Hill lived his life in the spirit of God’s love,

a gentle mountain of a man. 

Born and raised on a family farm in Minburn, Iowa, Bob fell in love with Susann Raynor during college, and they married in 1961, sixty years ago. Bob and Sue had five children they raised in Sycamore and Shabbona, Illinois, while he worked for 38 years as a farm manager and rural appraiser. Bob and his family were full of music, sometimes performing together in churches as the Hill Family Singers. In these years in Illinois, he sang baritone in a barbershop quartet and bass in church choir. He whistled while washing dishes or driving, and friends and family remember him as someone who laughed easily and often. He was an eager traveler and sprinkled Japanese phrases into daily life after a Rotary International trip to Japan. He welcomed newcomers, strangers, and international guests to their home and cooked them hearty meals.

Bob had always loved the mountains. When they retired in 2002, he and Sue moved to Westcliffe, Colorado, where they started a ranch with a herd of alpacas. Together, they founded and managed Paca Peace Ranch For Youth, a nonprofit organization that brought fifth- graders to the ranch to work with alpacas. Through this program, kids developed the personal skills and resources they would need to enter their teens ready to thrive. Over the course of sixteen years, Bob and Sue mentored nearly 200 local kids, helping each of them build trusting, peaceful relationships and recognize their own dignity and value. Bob loved each one of them and had no greater delight than to encounter former Paca Peace kids as they grew up.

Recently, Bob and Sue moved to San Diego to have better access to medical care. They have always cared deeply about meeting human needs and had planned to work with several nonprofit programs connected with the work of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and RefugeeNet. Anyone who would like to make a memorial donation is invited to make a contribution below to support the social enterprise work of MAKE Projects and Mama Africa Catering, which help refugee families gain the skills and tools to support themselves through community gardens, culinary training, customer service, and catering enterprises.

The seeds of love and caring Bob planted continue to grow and find new life.