Sheldon Leroy Hill, age 86, of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts died June 10, 2012, peacefully, at Royal Taber Street Nursing Home in New Bedford, MA.
He was the husband of Elizabeth Fisk Hill. Sheldon was born in Rochester, MN, the son of the late Lawrence E. and Louise (Holbrook) Hill. He lived in Lake Forest, IL before moving to Mattapoisett in 2001.
Survivors include his wife; 2 sons, Sheldon Andrew Hill and Cory DeMott Hill and his wife Megan Mardiney, all of Brooklyn, NY; a daughter Lindsay Alane Hill of Charlestown, MA; four grandchildren, Mariah (12), Jackson (10), Sophie (16) and Luke (12); a sister, Patricia Holm; a niece, Pamela Alford and a nephew, David Holm of Denver, CO.
He was the founder & principal architect of Sheldon Hill Associates. His firm served the residential, commercial & non-profit sectors. His pro-bono work included Camp Wonderland Chapel in MO, and sustainable housing in the Marshall Islands and Australia. His love for travel began with the Plym Fellowship Award after college graduation in 1952 — a 6 month architectural tour of Europe. Subsequently, his travels took him everywhere — from Indonesia to Venezuela, Kenya to Scotland, China to Jamaica, and much in between. He lived by and expressed the philosophy, "world-wide and history-long." He was a lifetime booster for urban renewal, and worked hard to see the development of his childhood home, Waukeegan, IL.
Mr. Hill was a passionate volunteer, serving as a board member for the Institute of Cultural Affairs and the founding member of the Architectural Review Board of Lake Forest. More recently, his volunteer activities included mentoring at Hayden McFadden School in New Bedford; participating in the Democratic Town and Sustainability Committees and the Council on Aging of Mattapoisett. As an active member of the Mattapoisett Congregational Church he recently served on the Board of Deacons, the Stewardship Committee and the Handicap Accessibility Task Force. His intellectual curiosity was fostered by his need to learn and grow individually and spiritually, as expressed recently through Bible Studies and as a founding member of the Rant.
He was in the Navy when he matriculated pre-med at MIT, studied at Northwestern University and graduated with a Degree in Architecture from the University of Illinois. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Sheldon enjoyed gardening, travel, photography and volunteering. He was also an incurable fan of Chicago sports, particularly the Cubs.
His memorial services will be held on Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 10 am in the Mattapoisett Congregational Church, and Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 2 pm in the Lake Forest Presbyterian Church, Lake Forest, IL. In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to the Mattapoisett Congregational Church, P.O. Box 284, Mattapoisett, MA 02739 or the Institute of Cultural Affairs, 4750 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60640.