Born on August 12, 1925 to Pearl Franks Hill and Noble Clyde Hill, in Hindsville, Arkansas, he grew up in California where his parents moved shortly after he was born. He lived in the Fullerton area with his two brothers and sister until he turned 18. In 1943 he enlisted in the United States Army and volunteered as a paratrooper trained in specialized demolition. He served for two years in Europe as a Private First Class in the 82nd Airborne Division, 504th Paratroop Regiment. He distinguished himself by earning a purple heart and Bronze Star for valor in action.After witnessing the horrors of a concentration camp, he wrote a letter home to his mother describing it. This was published in the local newspaper and it was the beginning of what turned out to be a life of writing.Having decided on a career in the ministry, Hill followed the advice of a local minister and enrolled at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana under the GI Bill. There he pursued a psychology major and speech minor. While at DePauw, Hill met his future wife Grace Louise Grogan, a music major. In 1948 they were married and soon after he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduation, the couple moved to New York City where Hill attended Union Theological Seminary, studying under greats such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich. While attending Union, David Campbell and Kristin Adair were born to the couple. In 1953 he earned his Masters of Divinity and received Pulpit Magazine's Seminarian of the Year award.In 1955 Hill accepted the position of Assistant Chaplain at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. During his two years there, their daughter, Cydney Carswell was born. In 1957 the family moved to New Jersey where Hill became the Senior Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth. There he became a community leader launching a campaign against local slumlords, eventually forcing many to upgrade their housing. He also headed the Good Neighbor Association which was dedicated to eliminating racial prejudice. A tireless volunteer, he contributed his energy to the Big Brothers Organization, which honored him with its Big Brother of the Year award. While in Elizabeth, Geoffrey Thomas and James Andrew were born.In 1961 Hill was offered the senior pastor position at the North Avenue Presbyterian Church in New Rochelle, NY. He continued his work for racial equality and in 1963 he traveled to Washington, D.C. to join the freedom march and witnessed Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech.Believing that the church should be actively involved in culture as well, he organized the Festival of Religion and the Arts. Painters throughout the United States were exhibited at the church. Duke Ellington and Ravi Shankar performed and the great Jackie Robinson preached.His most ambitious and successful project, though, was a fight against the organized crime that had taken over the suburb of New Rochelle. After local gangsters brutally murdered a young man for failing to pay his gambling debts, Hill began his own inquiries into the influence of organized crime. As he came to understand the extent of their power, Hill formulated a plan for reclaiming the community. When his efforts spread he was contacted by US Treasury Agents. Hill agreed to form a citizen's task force, but encountered reluctance from his male parishioners to volunteer. When he approached women in the congregation, they enthusiastically agreed. They tailed numbers runners and placed bets at local parlors. Using this information, Treasury agents organized raids on a number of gambling houses. Word of the team's success spread and one of the larger raids reached the front page of The New York Times. Look Magazine followed up with an article on Hill and his group. Soon after, Cowles Publishing approached him about writing a book. In 1968 The North Avenue Irregulars was published. Disney studios purchased the movie rights and in 1976 the movie version was released. The movie was a box office success and is frequently seen on cable television.In 1968 the Citizens League of New Rochelle showed its gratitude to Hill by honoring him as Citizen of the Year with the Stanley Retton Award. The same year the National Council on Crime and Delinquency awarded him the Carl M. Loeb Award for Citizen Valor. The award was presented by United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Attending the award ceremony were future Attorney General Elliot Richardson and a number of United States Senators.In 1969 and 1970 respectively, Westminster College and Buena Vista College conferred honorary doctorates on Reverend Hill for his accomplishments as a spiritual and civic leader.In 1968, Hill accepted an offer to become the senior pastor of the Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver Colorado. Six months later, Grace Hill died from the breast cancer she had fought for 7 years. While raising 5 children aged 7 to 17, Hill continued both his ministry and his role as a civic leader.In 1974, Hill married Nancy Elizabeth Vandemoer, a member of the church and Colorado native. He retired from the ministry in 1977 to write and research cancer. Together with his eldest son David, he published two novels, The Deadly Messiah and Invader. His fourth published book was "I'm a Patient Too": CanSurmount: The Dynamic Support Program for Cancer Patients and Their Families, which he co-authored with Paul Hamilton, M.D. and Lynn Ringer. His wife Nancy teamed with him to raise his family and edit all of his writing. The marriage and partnership lasted for over 30 years until her death in 2008.While his writing was important, his greatest joy was always his family and his greatest passion was his extensive research into the cancer that had killed Grace. For 40 years he read and studied medical books and journals, educating himself on the intricacies of oncology and immunology. He often conferred and collaborated with well-known experts on the subject such as the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego. His inquiries led him to explore the immune system's function in battling cancer. His monograph entitled Immunopotentiation in the Cancer Patient offered a non-invasive, non-toxic protocol for exciting the immune response to an invading cancer. He was awarded a patent for this protocol. In 2005 as a layman, he published his paper The Significance of Glucose, Insulin, and Potassium for Immunology and Oncology: A New Model of Immunity in the Journal of Immune Based Therapies and Vaccines. Hill always believed that his work in cancer research was the most important contribution he made with his life.He died in Denver, Colorado on May 1, 2014 at the age of 88.
