Bennie Hill was born Feb 15, 1941, to Bennie B Hill and Mary Frances Lanham. He was the oldest of two children with a younger sister Lorraine. Growing up Bennie was a bit of a rebel. His mother always stayed loyal and true to her faith and prayed someday he would find his faith. Bennie’s father served in the Army in WWII as a sniper. When he came home he struggled with what we now know was PTSD. Mary Frances would not allow him come until he had found peace. So for most of Bennie’s life, his father was not in the home, his mother raised them on her own, and working full time. Her unwavering faith and example would become the cornerstone of his faith later in life.

His mother Mary Frances met Ellie, Bennie’s wife, at church, and encouraged him to take her out on a date. She was sure she was “The One”. He agreed to ask her out, and they dated off and on for quite some time. He had already graduated from High School and was beginning to really fall for her. Her parents were not happy about this at all. In fact, they moved my mom to El Paso TX to live with her sister and finish High School and to “forget about that boy”. Their plan backfired. Bennie joined the army, and Ellie graduated High School. He came home on leave for Christmas and married Ellie on Dec 25, 1961. Her parents did not attend. This was the beginning of the Hill Tribe.

Bennie wanted to be a helicopter pilot more than anything. He tried several times to take the class and become trained and go into action. The Vietnam War was in full motion at this time, and he wanted to serve. There were other plans meant for him though. Every time he showed up for training, after it was approved, he was denied at the door. At first, he was heartbroken, this was his dream. Until the opportunity arose to become part of the 101st Airborne. He graduated as part of the 23rd Airborne Class in March of 1962. He was very proud of this, and it became part of his identity. He was an expert Rifleman, and was promoted to Sergent. He left the military in Aug of 1967.

Bennie & Ellie would go on to have 5 children, Greg, Scott, Wade, Joe, and Shawndra. He worked as a salesman by trade after the military and travelled often. He moved his family to Colorado from Arizona in 1977 for a new job selling greenhouses. He changed companies a few times but stayed in this industry for years. It wasn’t until later in life that he found the career he loved, Real Estate. He enjoyed being able to help families, meet people, and help his own family find their homes along the way.

Bennie was most at home when he was outside camping, fishing, or hunting. He instilled the love of nature to each of his children who all have a love for and feel most at home when they are out in nature. He taught us all how to camp and fish. He taught the brothers how to hunt and shoot. We got the best of our Dad when we were all together camping or fishing. A tradition we have all passed down to our children.

Bennie’s greatest passion became his faith. He treasured the opportunity to serve and did so all of his life. He held many callings, but the 2 he had most often were Gospel Doctrine Teacher, and Temple Worker. He took his callings seriously and devoted his time and energy to fulfilling them. He had a love for Genealogy and the last year and a half of his life he devoted to temple work. He was very proud to have done over 3300 temple ordinances in the last 14 months of his life. He fought to stay in this world as hard and as long as he could to do more, but he always knew he was kept here for this reason, and for a specific number of people he needed to find. He did that.

He was so proud that he was asked by his grandchildren to marry them as they found their sweethearts. He spoke of the privilege that it was, and how honored he was to have that role and place in the hearts of each one. He loved his family deeply, and we all loved him. We will miss you Dad, say hi to Mom for us.