MONROE — Born in California to a military family, Ron Hill understood a thing or two about service.
Service to his country, to his community, and to his family.
Ron Hill died at home on Oct. 25. He was 60 years old. He is survived by his wife, Kay Hill; his daughter, Renee Hill; and his son, Scott Hill.
After graduating from high school in 1966, he joined the U.S. Navy and served aboard the USS Hornet. As an air crew member, he was part of a U.S. Navy aviation unit that hunted submarines in the South China Sea during the Vietnam War.
After he made his way back to San Diego, Calif., he met his future wife.
“I was in college living with my parents when my brother came over with a friend. That friend was Ron,” Kay Hill said. “They had served together on the USS Hornet. From the beginning you could tell we truly liked each other.”
After getting married in 1970, Ron Hill joined the San Diego Sheriff’s Department as a deputy, eventually becoming a detective.
After he was injured in the line of duty, Hill and his wife decided to leave California and move to Monroe in 1978. He joined the Washington State Department of Corrections, retiring in 2004 after 21 years of service as a lieutenant. Doing his duty with honor and courage, he strove to instill those values in his children.
“He expected us to be good citizens, honest and truthful,” Renee Hill said. “I suppose you would expect that from an ex-cop, but he raised us with a sense of honor in mind.”
It was in his retirement that he rediscovered a passion: motorcycles.
For his son, Scott Hill, that passion created a bonding experience with his father.
“Growing up, I always wanted a motorcycle. A dirt bike, anything. It didn’t matter; Dad would just say ‘no’ and that would be it,” Scott Hill said.
He would eventually find out that while his mother was pregnant with him, they were in a motorcycle accident.
To Scott Hill, it wasn’t a big deal. In his opinion, the worst that could happen is that he could fall off a motorcycle — and that had happened before he was even born.
After buying his own motorcycle, Scott Hill convinced his father to buy one, as well. Both of them purchased Harley-Davidsons.
They regularly went on rides together, even as Ron Hill’s health became troubled. After he was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, some things Hill enjoyed became difficult. Despite the pain of the treatments, he strove to live his life with a “can do” attitude.
“He wasn’t physically well, but to him, the times he was on his motorcycle, he was fine,” Scott Hill said. “He was free.”
Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.
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