Edward Polk Hill III's Obituary
Funeral Service for Dr. Edward Polk Hill III, 91, of Jacksons Gap, Alabama, will be Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 10:00 am at the St. James Episcopal Church. Father Rob Iler will officiate. Burial will follow in the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery.
Dr. Hill passed away on Monday, October 16, 2023 at his residence. He was born on January 29, 1932 in Canton, Georgia to Edward Polk Hill, Jr. and Winnefred Maria Doss Hill. He was a faithful member of St. James Episcopal Church. He served his country during the Korean Conflict in the United States Army. He was a father, a husband, a Christian, an aviator, and a veteran.
At age 7 his family moved from Canton to a small 10 acre farm in Appalachian eastern Kentucky where he learned to garden and raise and process chickens, pigs, and cattle. He also learned to milk cows and to fish in Abbott Creek and the Big Sandy River and shoot rabbits and squirrels in the wooded hills. He attended public schools in Prestonsburg, KY where he played sports and was recognized for 12 years of perfect attendance. After two quarters on academic probation, the realities of higher education were grasped and the received a BS degree from Oregon State College in fish and game management. During the summers of 1952 and 1953 he worked for the US fish and Wildlife Service on Alaskan commercial salmon fisheries as a stream guard and later as a motor patrolman.
He was employed by the Kentucky Dept. of Natural Resources as an Asst. fisheries biologist for six months before entering five years of military service as an artillery officer. He received his army aviator wings and served an 18 month tour in Korea, before returning to Fort Rucker AL as a flight instructor.
He married Margaret Chilton Rice from Atlanta, GA in November 1958. In early 1960, he enrolled in a masters degree program at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, and received his Master of Science from Auburn University in 1962. He was employed by the Game and Fish Division of the Alabama Dept. of Conservation as wildlife research biologist for five years. He returned to Auburn in 1967 as Asst. leader to the Alabama Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit and received his PhD in Wildlife Science and Disease in 1971. He was a charter member of the Alabama Chapter of the Wildlife Society, and served as representative of the southeastern states on the Wildlife Society Council from 1982 until 1987. He served as president of the Southeastern section of the Wildlife Society from 1977 to 1979.
IN 1980 he became wildlife research Leader of the Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Mississippi State University until moving to Lakewood, Colorado as Chief of Bird Research at the National Wildlife Research Center in 1991. During his career in wildlife research, he and his 35 masters and PhD Students published 98 scientific wildlife papers, including book chapters, articles, in peer reviewed journals of natural resources societies, pamphlets, and special reports. His research was recognized and awarded on two occasions by the technical committees of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and he received the Governors Wildlife Conservationist Award in 1972.
He retired in 1993 and spent 5 years building a log house near FairPlay, CO where he and Margaret spent the next ten summers. In 1998 Ed and Margaret began wintering at Lake Martin and eventually moved there permanently. There he spent time tending his vegetable garden, blueberry bushes, muscadine vines, and pear trees. He also enjoyed fishing for crappie and bass on Lake Martin as well as hunting and managing his farmland in Chambers County. Using the lumber from oak and walnut trees he harvested and milled from his farm, he became a skilled woodworker providing his family with many treasured pieces of heirloom furniture. His woodworking skills also gained him popularity in yearly bazaars at his church home in Alexander City where his cutting boards, cookbook stands, and crosses were in high demand.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret Rice Hill of Jacksons Gap; sons, Edward Polk Hill, IV (Amy) of Alexander City and Thomas Hill (Sarah) of Auburn; daughters, Ellen Lundy (Jim) of Atlanta, GA and Virginia Debes (Kenneth) of Frisco, TX; grandchildren, Ryan Hill (Jill), Sarah Gallagher (Spencer), Laura O'Neill (Benjamin), Edward Polk Hill, V (Caroline), Emily Doss Hill, Katherine Hill Huffman (Christian), Robert Rice Hill, Joseph Lundy, Margaret Lundy, Mary Debes, and Eric Debes; great-grandchildren, Hudson Hill, Hannah Hill, Hollis Hill, Patrick Gallagher, Cerys Gallagher, Elaine Gallagher, Reagan Gallagher, Elizabeth O'Neill, and Emma O'Neill; sisters, Caroline Hill Coleman and Sallye Hill Stumbo; and brother, John Hill (Roberta).
He was preceded in death by his parents.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. James Episcopal Church in his memory. 347 South Central Ave. Alexander City, AL 35010.
Radney Funeral Home is honored to serve the Hill family.
What’s your fondest memory of Edward?
What’s a lesson you learned from Edward?
Share a story where Edward's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Edward you’ll never forget.
How did Edward make you smile?