Paul Joseph Hill passed away on Monday November 23, 2020 in Newtown, PA.
A lifelong resident of Princeton, he was born 3/16/23 in a house on Aiken Avenue just a block away from the Murray Place home where the family moved to and lived for many years. He grew up with his two older brothers Homer and Dan and went to The Nassau Street School for his elementary and junior high education and went on to graduate from Princeton High School in the class of 1940. After attending Syracuse University with his two brothers, Paul enlisted in the Army in 1942 and was stationed in Los Angeles California where he met his wife June, who was living in Beverly Hills at the time.
Within four months of their meeting they were married. Paul was honorably discharged February 1946 as a Corporal in the medical detachment of the 1905th Service Command Unit. After leaving California they moved for a short time to Colorado Springs to be closer to June’s family.
After about a year in Colorado they moved back to Syracuse so Paul could take advantage of the GI Bill and finish his college education; however, within the first year after returning to Syracuse he received a call from his father Homer M. Hill Sr. requesting that he return to Princeton to manage the store, as his father had fallen ill. Shortly after returning to Princeton from Syracuse, Paul and June built their home on Morgan Place where Paul lived for over 70 years and where they raised their two sons Dan and Mark.
He was a third generation proprietor of Hill’s Market located on the corner of Witherspoon Street and Spring Street in downtown Princeton. The store was opened in 1909 by his grandfather William D. Hill after he sold the families 200 acre farm in Harbourton where the family had lived for many generations. Hill’s Market was destroyed by fire in 1977 after 67 years in business.
A good Father, Father-in-Law, Grandfather and Great Grandfather, Paul was very well known in the Princeton Community. He was a member and past general manager of Springdale Golf Club, The Old Guard of Princeton and The Romeos, where he very much enjoyed his every weekday morning meetings at Bon Appetite in the Princeton Shopping Center with his friends and acquaintances. Paul marched in many Princeton Memorial Day parades and was thrilled to be more recently joined by his Great Grandson Sandro.
After his wife June passed in 2013, he became close friends with Lorna June Andre, her daughter Anne Gunter and her family. They very much enjoyed their time together taking walks and talking about their families.
Paul leaves behind many great memories for all that knew him. His passion for life and the people he knew live on in his rhymes, of which he penned over 100, many of which were published in the Town Topics and Princeton Packet.
Paul is survived by his son and daughter-in-law Dan and Norma Hill of Doylestown, son and daughter-in-law Mark and Beth Hill of Hopewell, Maggi Hill Mother of Ryan, Brady and Rebecca, five grandchildren and their husbands and wives-Ryan and Kyle of Williamsburg/Brooklyn NY; Caitrin and Matt of Yardley, PA; Braden and Blair of Mullica Hill, NJ; Ellen Hill and Brian Vanderford of Doylestown, PA; Rebecca Hill of Pompano Beach, FL and six great grandchildren Sandro, Abram, Rockwell, Evie, Jameson and Bonnie; niece Jude Erhardt and Husband Gary Greely of Maryland; many more nieces and nephews in Colorado, and his close friends and neighbors whom he loved, including his very close friend Ann Goeke and her family.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Princeton High School Scholarship Fund at Fund101.org/donate
Due to the continuing Covid virus pandemic the family will not be holding any services at this time. A celebration of life service will be scheduled sometime in 2021.
Arrangements by Blackwelll Memorial Home, Pennington. For condolences go to website at blackwellmh.com.