John William Hill (October 31, 1950-March 18, 2012) (of the Joshua Hill line) John in his Air Force days and with his wife and three children. Some Memories of John Hill Remembered by his cousin Claire Hill Some years ago, John reached out to me across continents and centuries to extend his hand in friendship. After that he regularly popped into my life electronically to enrich my existence. He learned of our kinship through my genealogy site. Although our Hill lines split in the 18th century, John's DNA turned out to be almost identical to that of my brother Michael. John and I never saw one another in person. Over the years he sent me a lot of pictures of frogs, but no pictures of himself. So, finally I asked him whether he was trying to tell me that he looked like a frog. He replied that he supposed that he did look like a frog. John never forgot to make me a frog card for my birthday. In addition to pictures of frogs doing all kinds of exciting things that frogs never actually do, John deepened my understanding of Japanese culture by sending me pictures of Japanese souls riding on cucumbers and eggplants and explaining to me the philosophy behind that. John especially wrote to me about his family… his parents, his wife and children, his brother and his family. He made his nephew Stephen the family ambassador to Paris. When John and I began corresponding, he was eagerly awaiting grand-fatherhood and in one of his last letters to me he wrote, "Since I sent the e-mail yesterday, I have become a grandpa again. Last night Naomi (my 2nd girl) had her 2nd girl. Now she has 2, Sallie and Sarah. Hard to believe I got 3 grandkids now. " To show you what a thoughtful friend he was, when I broke my ankle last fall, he was sensitive enough to send me internet links to 1930s Hop-Along Cassidy radio shows. He even explained to me how Hop-Along Cassidy started hopping. In addition, he sent me a picture of Dr. Frog with this message:

Hi Claire, Sorry to hear you hurt yourself, but sounds like you will make a good recovery and you can have the EASY LIFE of a princess for a few weeks with everyone waiting to do your bidding. Dr. FROG will help you fix you up. I also sent a FROG CARD (via this e-mail) to help you get better. John How could you or I have suspected then John would leave us so prematurely and unexpectedly. May he rest in peace and may perpetual light shine on him. Amen.