Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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Hill, to shock of many, died Wednesday, Feb. 20 at High Point Regional Hospital from complications with pneumonia. He was 56 years old. Funeral service was held on Feb. 24 at Memorial United Methodist Church, where he was a member. Interment was held at Holly Hill Memorial Park Cemetery.
After serving 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, Hill worked with both the Thomasville and High Point Police departments, and most recently taught at Fair Grove Elementary School.
Graduating from Thomasville High School, Hill won a state championship in wrestling, earning him a UNC Pembroke scholarship. After a semester, he decided to join the Air Force, where he touched many lives. Serving from the time of Vietnam to Desert Storm, in his role of Sr. Master Sgt., Hill counseled many young military personnel on issues from marriages to finances, as well as their career.
Offering guidance to others, would become part of his persona.
“I don’t think I even realized the impact he had on the many people he did help,” his wife Michelle said Thursday. “When I look back now, of course, even in his military career, I hadn’t really thought about it, until he passed, about how many people he encouraged and how he changed their lives.”
Even if it was someone who was from another country, Stephen Hill showed his caring for mankind. In one instance, his wife remembers, her husband wrote a letter concerning an experience while serving in Saudi Arabia.
With a threat of scuds hitting the area and working on the ground, Hill encountered Pakistani workers who were terrified of war conditions, so much so, that they had garbage bags over their heads. To ensure the Pakistanis’ safety, Hill wrote to his wife, he gave them his chemical-warfare gear.
“That is the kind of person he was,” his wife said. “In the heat of the moment, he couldn’t live with knowing they weren’t as protected as he was.”
After returning to the states, Hill served as a recruiter for the Air Force in eastern North Carolina, where he won numerous recruiting awards.
“He went into areas where there wasn’t much of a future for people,” Michelle said. “For the high school people, he was able to offer a way to enroll in the military and also encourage them to use that to further their education.”
At the same time, he wanted to further his education.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1992, he went to work for the Thomasville Police Department (TPD) as a communications officer, then served a stint with the High Point Police Department and the Guilford County Jail. He then made the decision to become a teacher.
“With his background, being retired in the military and limited experience at the Thomasville Police Department, he had no problem getting a job in Guilford County,” TPD Major Ronnie Phillips said. “He had the calling to be a teacher after that.”
But making the transition to teaching would require Hill to work hard and gain some additional education himself.
At times Stephen Hill had three jobs, working at the Guilford County Jail, being a stay-at-home father and attending UNC Greensboro.
“I think our children are very fortunate in that we worked very hard as a couple to make sure one of us was at home with the kids,” Michelle said. “When he went back to school, I went to work full time. He would arrange his classes around our children’s preschool schedules.”
After graduating with a B.A. in elementary education in 1999, the dream of teaching became a reality. He was hired to teach the fourth grade at Fair Grove Elementary, where he taught until his death.
His desire to help people have a better future was a quality Michelle will always remember.
“He always wanted to make sure people knew there are more opportunities,” she said. “Growing up, he valued the people in his life who told him about opportunities and resources. He felt led or called to help other people in the same way. He used to have that saying, ‘pay it forward.’”
It was that same attitude towards life that led both students and parents to admire and respect Hill.
The news of Hill’s tragic death came as a shock to Fair Grove Elementary students and parents, and in the days after they have found ways to honor the teacher who was like a hero to them. On the school Web site, co-workers placed a picture of students releasing balloons in his honor, along with the message, “We love you and miss you, Mr. Hill,” at the top of the page.
Phillips, who has fond memories of Hill with the Thomasville police, has a son who was a student in Hill’s first class at Fair Grove.
“My son is in 11th grade now,” the major said. “He was just a fantastic teacher. My son is still fond of Steve. I had contact with him all through the years because I have another son in the second grade now. When I told my youngest son that Mr. Hill had died, the first thing he said was, ‘He was going to be my fourth-grade teacher.’”
Three months from now, the teacher was looking forward to his first fourth grade class graduating at East Davidson High, who he taught in 1999.
“One of his students told me that he is graduating this May and was inspired [because of my husband] to go to UNC Pembroke and go into education,” his wife said. “That was such a tribute in that one person. He was an East Davidson football player. That just speaks volumes to me. You just don’t realize it until people tell you about their motivation. Teaching was his whole life.”
A sign of his dedication to the education of his students, was his commitment after the school bell rang. He offered extra tutoring to students by holding writing classes before and after school, as well as on weekends. In addition, he would call students at home to ensure they were OK.
“He treated all his children fairly,” said Ron Kepley, former interim Fair Grove Elementary principal. “He went the extra mile to make sure all of the students in his class were learning. He accepted challenges without being asked.”
Just like his entire life.
Aside from his wife, Hill is survived by his daughter, Stephene Michelle Hill, of the home, and his son Michael Stephen Hill, who attends UNC at Chapel Hill; sister, Vickie Westmoreland and husband, Sonny, of Thomasville; and brother Leroy Hill and wife, Patricia, of Wilmington; his mother and father-in-law, Edgar and Jackie Albritton, of Kinston.
Staff Writer Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 231, or ignasiak@tvilletimes.com.