Kenneth Ray Hill was born 8 Sep 1936 in Springfield, MO, to LTC Kenneth and Mildred Hill. He graduated from Coronado High School in Coronado, CA, and attended San Diego State College for a year and a half before entering West Point.
He reported to the Academy on 3 Jul 1956. As a cadet, Ken was known for his calm attitude, excellence in English, and skill as a cartoonist. His easy manner and sincerity quickly won him many friends in H-2 Company and the rest of the Corps. He sang in the cadet chapel choir, was a member of the public information detail, debate council and forum, German, ski, golf, weight lifting clubs, and the cadet radio station KDET staff. At graduation, Ken chose the Artillery.
Shortly after graduation, on 23 Jul 1960, Ken married his cadet sweetheart, Gretchen Bryant Habel, in Chevy Chase, MD. Their honeymoon was spent driving to Ft. Sill, OK, where Ken spent three months, followed by three months at Ft. Bliss, TX, and one and a half months at Ft. Benning for jump school. After artillery school, he was assigned to Mainz, West Germany, with the 5th Missile Battalion, 1st Artillery.
While in Wiesbaden, Germany, he and Gretchen were blessed with their first child, Andrea Noel in December 1961. Two years later, at Bad Kreuznach, Germany, their second child, Michelle Lorraine, was born. Gretchen recalls their time in Germany during the Cuban missile crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, and Kennedy’s assassination. It seemed that Ken was on alert the entire three years.
Upon return to the states, they were assigned to Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. In June of 1964, Ken resigned his commission and went to work at IBM’s Federal Systems Division in Silver Spring, MD. In 1969, at Silver Spring, their third child, Jennifer Lynne, was born.
Ken and Gretchen loved Europe so much that Ken worked hard to get back and was successful in 1972. He was a consultant with IBM at the Army base in Karlsruhe, W. Germany. During the two years they were again in Germany, they took thorough advantage by traveling and even driving to dinner in France at night (they lived near the border).
Much like a military family, the IBM family did not keep its roots down for long. Upon return to the states, the Hill family was in Greensboro, NC, for one year, and then Aurora, CO, for two years. Another move took them to Westlake Village, CA, until 1980. During their time there, the entire family became passionate about tennis. Rarely did a dinner pass without analysis of someone’s game, be it Chris Evert’s constancy or Jimmy Connors’ antics, or the latest match between Andrea and Michelle Hill (only the victor enjoyed this conversation).
In 1980, with Andrea and Michelle away at universities, they moved back to Maryland for two years. Hoping it would be their last move, Ken and Gretchen returned briefly to Westlake Village with Jennifer. After a year, the plant was closed, and they all moved to Boulder, CO. Much of their time was spent off the slopes (Ken due to intense work demands) and Gretchen’s artistic career flourished in Boulder’s community of creativity. In 1990 they were back in California, transferred to San Jose, CA, and remained there until his passing in 1998. When he was bedridden, many of his H-2 buddies came to visit, which meant so much to him!
Ken was very proud of his wife and children, who were his primary focus and joy. He was also keenly attached to the experience of West Point. When they were young children, Ken began sharing his West Point stories with his girls. In 1976, when the first female cadets entered West Point, he finally had an opportunity to recruit his offspring (all girls) into the Academy. Andrea was a free-spirited, fun-loving girl who had no inclination to attend a military academy. Jennifer was just in middle school. Michelle was too young upon high school graduation to meet entrance requirements. He would have to wait until the next generation.
Ken always had a positive outlook on life. He was a devoted husband and father. He lived the values that he taught his children: always maintain integrity and excellence without excuse. His life’s philosophy was to live with joy and appreciation for every day and continually learn and improve. He followed his philosophy and traveled to Paris in 1997 with his brother Denis during a brief reprieve from his intensive cancer treatments. Despite a painful spinal tumor, he walked the Paris streets with joie de vivre. He never gave up fully living the time he had left. A striking image of this attitude was his suddenly (albeit slowly and carefully) getting out of his chair on an afternoon in San Jose to dance to Eric Clapton’s “San Francisco Bay Blues,” naming his dance “the carcinoma shuffle.”
He spent many of his last months bedridden but still finding the joy in simple pleasures. Many evenings friends would come over to partake in the feast of the evening. During those days, Ken also became close to Michelle’s soon-to-be-fiance Cyrus, often discussing career advancement and management as Cyrus’ career in e-commerce took off.
Gretchen remembers one Thanksgiving when Ken was undergoing harsh therapy and was feeling ill. He decided he wanted to fix Thanksgiving dinner. He picked a complete meal out of Gourmet magazine and insisted on making it all from scratch. He made enough for ten people, and although much was cold or undercooked, being impossible for a novice chef to coordinate so many complex dishes, the family appreciated the grand effort.
Throughout his long battle with cancer he remained upbeat. He will never be forgotten by his family and friends. Well done, Kenneth. Be thou at peace.