HILL, Emeral
“Lee”
October 11, 1933
– June 13, 2014
What
a life this guy had. He was born in
Tulsa OK and his family moved to California in 1941. He worked most of his life beginning as a
paperboy for the Sacramento Bee during war time and later worked as a bus boy in
the local restaurants. All during high
school and the first year of his married life, he worked at the Triangle Gas
Station in Carmichael. He then entered
the milk business working for Inderkum’s Dairy and Crystal Dairy as a route
driver until he retired at age 55. He
retired young so he could play with cars.
Lee
was good at many things including bowling, horseshoe pitching, waterskiing,
rollerskating, and restoring old cars. Lee
had always been a car hobbyist. He
collected and restored cars from the early horseless carriages to the cars of
the 1950s. Each one was a reflection of
his skills. His 1914 Mitchell speedster,
a brass automobile with snake horns, was a favorite. His most challenging restoration because of
its rarity was his 1939 V-12 7-passenger Packard.
Lee
belonged to many car clubs and held offices and served as a board member for
the Nor. Cal. Horseless Carriage Club where he was a member for over 50 years.
Lee
was a member of the first graduating class of El Camino High School. His one claim to fame was being the first
water skier on Folsom Lake and his photo was published in the Sacramento
Bee.
Lee
leaves behind his wife of nearly 58 years, Edith “Sue” Hill, son Michael Hill
(Marianna) of Las Vegas, and daughters Denise Hill of Shingle Springs, Sandy
Maye (Jack) of Carmichael and Sharon Langford (Tom) of Folsom. He was predeceased by his daughter Diana Dent
(Ken). He is also survived by nine grandchildren and
ten great-grandchildren. His love of family was his greatest joy.
The
family thanks Dr. Roger Mar-Tang, Kaiser Permanente, and Ana Yazdani, RN, First
Call Hospice, for their gracious and exceptional care of our husband and
father.
