Philip B. Hill ’52

Phil Hill died Nov. 18, 2009, in Shepherdstown, W.Va., where he had lived since 1999.  

A graduate of Williston Academy, he majored in politics at Princeton. He roomed for all four years with Ed Masinter and was a member of Cottage Club. At Princeton, he was in NROTC and served on active duty with the Navy for two years after graduation.

Phil attended law school at West Virginia University and practiced law in West Virginia, Ohio, and Iowa. In Iowa, he followed lifelong political ambitions and ran for office, serving in both the Iowa House of Representatives and Senate. He gave to his community wherever he lived and enjoyed serving Princeton by interviewing applicants through Schools Committee work.

For our 50th-reunion yearbook, he wrote: “What has meant most to me? Family. After family, friends; then, living in Iowa. Next, in spite of heart problems, my health. I have been lucky. Next is running.” Even with a medical history of two heart attacks, Phil ran and finished the Pittsburgh Marathon on his 57th birthday.

He is survived by his wife, Lily Ritchie Hill; three daughters, including June Fletcher-Hill ’81; and seven grandchildren.