Reprint from the Progress Times - November 26, 2004

©Progress Times 2004 - All Rights Reserved

Vernon Hill Jr. Honored For Life Of Public Service

By AMELIA GARCIA

When Vernon Hill, Jr. joined the Scouts as a boy he promised to live by the Scout principles and promised to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, clean and reverent.

And even now at the age of 75 Hill Jr. tries his best to live by those principles and gets teary-eyed when he recites the Scout oath because it is those principles that have made him who he is and have helped him live an accomplished life of service.

He was recently honored by his fraternity at University of Texas at Austin during the Centennial Celebration of the Alpha Gamma Chapter Phi Phi Phi Fraternity being installed as the Texas Alpha Chapter Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.

Hill received the Public Sector Recognition Award of the Texas Alpha in acknowledgment of the honor he brought to Phi Kappa Psi through his career of more than 30 years of combat service in the U.S. Army, and the 20 plus years he served a s civil trial lawyer and mediator.

The award was to be presented in Austin during the banquet held for the recipients of this years Phi Kappa Psi awards on the 27 of October. However, Hill could not make it due to illness.

The fraternity pledged to come to Mission and present Hill with his medallion of honor and a momento containing his picture and a description of his contributions to society.

His fraternity brother Wiltm Stone did just that and visited Hill's home on November 17.

"The beautiful thing about this thing is that they came all the way from Austin to present this to me," said Hill emotionally. "What can I say? I'm dumbfounded."

After graduating valedictorian of his class in 1947 Hill attended UT-Austin where he pledged to the fraternity in 1948. He was in the Army Reserves and ROTC. He attended UT Law School and SMU Law School and in 1955 received his LLB. He was then commissioned into the U.S. Army that same year. He served regularly until 1977.

His duty included three tours in Vietnam, Central and South America, Africa, Middle East and Europe.

Most of Hill's assignments were with the Special Forces doing the United States' Clandestine bidding in unstable locations. His citations are numerous.

He was honorably discharged from the Army and put on 100% military related physical disability that came from the strain of being a paratrooper. He has received over 22 major surgeries which include five hip replacements on his right side and three on his left.

"I spent 30 years in combat jumping out of planes and swinging through the jungle," Hill explained. "That puts a lot of force on the body and back then our shoes were not very supportive. So eventually it caught up to me."

Hill then put his law degree to use for over 20 years before retiring.

"I already had my law degree so I became a lawyer and then my memory started to fail me," he said smiling. "And one does not try and sell themselves as a lawyer if they can't remember."

Hill also sponsored four Vietnamese children. Their family was trying to get out of Vietnam during the war and Hill promised their father that he would help them. He brought the four children between 1970 and 1975 when they were between the ages of 14-18.

Their father was the last to head to America but became a boat casualty. Their mother found refuge in France, but has been able to visit with them.

They all lived with Hill at one time or another and the youngest graduated valedictorian of Mission High School. All four have degrees and professional careers and keep in touch with Hill.

"They are not my children of my body, but they are my children," he said of them.

From a previous marriage Hill has four biological children, Shelly Wilford, Barbara Ann Thornton, Marc Vernon Hill, who all reside in Dallas and Dorothy Hill who lives in New Mexico.

Hill married his current wife in 1990.

"I should have married her 34 years ago," Hill said. "She was my father's legal secretary and I was in love with her, but I didn't think she'd have me. I was a fool."

Aurora, then Cantu, started working for Vernon Hill Sr. as his legal secretary in 1960, but it was not until 1970 that she met him. After Hill divorced his first wife he began courting Aurora with intentions of making her Mrs. Vernon Hill Jr.

"I remember he came over to my house with a sack of tomatoes his mother had supposedly sent me," Aurora said with a smile. "Whatever, he was trying to woo me. We dated for a year and then had the longest engagement in history. We were engaged for four years because I just wanted to make sure."

She describes him as a wonderful person with a big heart.

"He is the most loving, generous, kind, considerate, loving person I know," Aurora said lovingly. "He'd give you the shirt off his back. That's just the kind of man he is."

"He is also very fun-loving," she added jesting. "He used to be really funny and was always telling jokes, but he's become kind of cranky. We're fixing that though."

Once he settled back in Mission he became involved in the community and served in the Rotary Club, Red Cross, United Way, Chamber of Commerce, Mission Museum Board, Horizon's National Charity Group, Planned Parenthood, Veteran's Memorial of Texas, AARP and St. John's Episcopal Church, which was founded by his father, Vernon Hill Sr. For his service to Mission he was named Mr. Mission 1999.

So why did Hill contribute so much to the community?

"I feel I owe it to them," Hill said. "You know you gotta do your share and give back."

Mr. Hill has spent most of the last two months in the hospital due to heart complications. For about a year he has been using a wheelchair to get around although he still walks short distances with the assistance of a walker. His mind is not what it used to be and sometimes forgets details and dates. He depends on his wife for some recollection of his life and refers to Aurora as his "memory".

However, his spirit is still young and vibrant and commits to living by the Eagle Scout

"With God's help and my wife I'm out of the hospital and home," he said. "I ain't giving up yet. I still have a lot of things I want to do."