Doris Hill

After months of illness, Doris Hill, loving daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and devoted friend to many, passed away at her home on Monday, October 19, 2015. During those difficult months her friends gave her constant love and support. She had just reached her 78th birthday.

The only child of Eugene F. Schaefer and Doris Lowry Schaefer, Doris was born in McAllen, Texas on September 1, 1937. She attended McAllen public schools and graduated from high school in May 1955. During her school days she was active in teen social organizations and played in the high school marching band. She attended Pan American College and as a freshman was elected by the student body to be a cheerleader for the Broncs basketball team.

On June 2, 1956 she married Larry Hill of Edinburg, Texas. Two children were born to the couple; a daughter, Lea Ann, and a son, Jeffrey Dean. For most of the first thirty years of the marriage, Doris devoted herself to being a housewife and stay-at-home mom. Before moving to College Station in 1967, the family lived at various times in Edinburg, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In her leisure time, Doris especially enjoyed playing cards, reading novels, live theatre and travel. Mysteries were her favorite. She loved going to Broadway productions in New York City and she enjoyed many of the productions of local theatre groups in Bryan and College Station as well as in Houston and Austin. Her favorite vacation spots were in the American West and various locations in the Caribbean. After retirement she and Larry traveled extensively in southern Europe – France, Portugal, and Spain.

In 1975 Doris took a job outside the home. She held various staff positions at Texas A&M University in the Office of the Registrar, the College of Business, the College of Agriculture, and the Graduate College (later, the Office of Graduate Studies). She derived the greatest satisfaction from positions where she worked directly with the students. She maintained friendships with many former students. When she retired from the university in August, 1996, the faculty, students, and former students of the Land Economics and Real Estate Programs honored her with a lifetime membership in their professional organization – The Society of Texas A&M Real Estate Professionals.

Doris was preceded in death by her father and mother. She is survived by her husband, Larry; daughter and son-in-law, Lea and Michael Currie; son and daughter-in-law, Jeff and Kimberly (Watson) Hill; three grandchildren, Nicholas Paul Reid, Ethan Edward Hill and Avery Grace Hill.