Overview

Carole Hill was born in St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on December 26, 1940, at 8:50 PM to Vivian Victor Jones and Hugh Jones. She had two siblings, Ernest J. Wilderson (b. Feb 10, 1930) and Vivian Jones Bradford (b. Oct 11, 1945), and two nieces, Tara Bradford-Joe (b. Aug 3, 1968) and Nichol Bradford (b. Sept 3, 1971).  She also had spiritual children including Keith Bradford (her nephew), James Hill III (b. Mar 3, 1966), and Brian Hill (b. Aug 24, 1968) (her step-sons).

She was an adventurer, world traveler, and lifelong learner. She had an unquenchable thirst to live fully and was an example for all. She racially integrated every school she attended and refused to adhere to anyone else’s rules or expectations of what she could do and how. She was made of strong stuff. She taught over a thousand children and was a rebel counselor, encouraging young people to be "smart", but also to follow their passions long before that was “cool.” She felt that "no matter how long you live, life remains shorter than you plan, so go for it". She taught us to value time.

She was an “Encourager of People”, especially young people, and when she still lived in Chicago, former students would come up to us in grocery stores and movie theaters and thank her for touching their lives. At her retirement community, she knew the names of all the staff, their stories, and their dreams - and encouraged them to go for what they really wanted. She divorced back when the world thought that was bad, then found true love again at 60, when the world thought that was impossible. She never fit into any boxes. She'd tell you where you could put your "box" if you attempted to define her.

Carole Hill was a great woman, a great human, and a great friend. We will all miss her.

From Nichol

She was always up for it and said YES to adventure. She was my aunt, my pal, and my travel buddy. We snorkeled off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in her 50s, enrolled in Tango School in Buenos Aires, Argentina in her 60s, and explored China, the Middle East, India, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean together in her 70s (25+ countries). And I was lucky enough to be her person as her health shifted in her 80s.

From Tara

It's often said that our loved ones aren't really gone as long as we hold them in our hearts and cherished memories 

I know this to be true!

Aunty, her abundant love, compassion and generosity of spirt is at home in my heart. She gives counsel, comfort and the occasional kick...  She finds expression in a multitude of my mannerisms, and is in memory that I realize that she laid the lessons that inform so much of who I am today. I an grateful.

In life, she was my North Star, a constant that I could find my bearings and navigate this life. She was only a telephone or text away, no matter where in Earth her exploits found her and Nichol. She was always near, no matter the miles or misunderstandings between us 

Now, Aunty is always accessible. I only need to think of her and instantly, she holds court in my conscious. She reaches out from memory, bathed in the perfect Flashpoint of Light, in the setting Sun over Montego Bay. I hear her laughter, so full of love, so filled with life.  I remember her words, although  I didn't understand it then, but she right as usual.  "Death don't change it". 

She'll always be my North Star and beloved Aunty. Truly. Our loved ones don't depart, they just snuggle up in our hearts. 

From Keith

Aunti I am forever grateful for who you have been in my life. I cherish the Spiritual conversations we shared, the long hours we spent just talking over coffee in your kitchen in Chicago, I even believe I know a part of you that no one else knows. I thank you for the memories we shared and the wonderful time we had in the Amazon. I will miss your laugh, your smile and your wit. You shot straight from the hip and I could always depend on gaining knowledge when i brought something to you. You were always a warm and cozy heart and an understanding ear. There is a piece of my heart that hurts but there is a larger portion that sends the signals of Joy and Peace that you helped create in my life. Yep, I will miss the physical you but I will always carry the Spiritual you. Rest well. I hope the party is all that you expected. 

CAROLE’s Eulogy (her own words)

It is not the words that I would want to be said at my Memorial Service but the atmosphere that I want to reflect my Celebration of Life.

I visualize a jazz quartet playing softly; Barbara Googins singing "Here's to Life" and "My Way". The scent of gardenias is in the air. There are numerous picture collages of my family, friends, and travels. I can actually feel my friends and family recalling the fun and memories that these pictures invoke over a 50+ year period.

I am a spiritual person so I would ask the Reverend to reflect briefly on my true belief that I am a child of God.

My Eulogy is simple:

Carole Hill lived her life to the fullest. When given lemons, she made lemonade. She loved her family and cherished her friends. Her ashes will be sprinkled at sea and she will be forever happy and at peace, continuing her travels on the ocean currents. [Note: Nichol will sprinkle some ashes at the locations on her bucket list as well]

CAROLE’s LIFE STORY (her own words)

"Mistakes, I've made a few, but again too few to mention..." or has my life’s attitude been to accept or manage the choices I have made. I have made some big mistakes, but my life has been great.

I grew up in a Black middle-class environment in Chicago. This was unusual for the 1940s. My formative years were enriched with nursery school, story hours, and plays at the library, ballet dancing, and the most significant impact was being a member of the Girl Scouts.

The Girl Scouts taught me to organize and complete large projects and many camping trips instilled in me the love of the outdoors which I still have today.

My parents, grandmother, and brother enriched my life and formulated my sense of values, strength, and fairness. My grandmother came to Chicago with her daughter (my mother), Vivian, in about 1920. My mother went to Wendell Phillips high school and graduated around 1928. She worked for the Board of Education at Dunbar Vocational High Schools as a School Lunch Room Manager. She retired in 1975.

Grandmother (Elizabeth Coste Love Victor, b. Feb. 20, 1879 - Apr. 10, 1960) was a tall beautiful woman of Indian, French, and African descent with long black hair. She was far ahead of her times and that independence was her gift to me. Extremely strong in character and determination. I don't know where her husband was but she raised my mother and later Ernest (my brother, b. Feb. 10, 1930 - May 25, 1995) by herself. She was a professional seamstress and worked in a clothing factory in Chicago on Van Buren Street. When I was a little girl, she would sometimes take me to a place with 100 sewing machines. Before I was born she sometimes walked 5 miles to work and 5 miles back because the choice was to walk or not feed her family. We come from a strong line of women and must remember that and call on that strength when we are in need. We have in our blood the genetics of pioneering women. Peligee (your great-great-grandmother), Elizabeth (your great-grandmother), Vivian (your grandmother) and your grandmother on your Dad's side. So those of us who are left can call on the best from our ancestors. We have it in us. Yes, we are eccentric (also a family trait) but we have great bones, character, strength, and determination.

My Father (b. Dec 13, 1903) provided a good living as one of the few black bartenders on the Pullman Railway lines. When he was not on the railroad he worked with the Girl Scouts and started my love of traveling with family trips to California, New York, St. Louis, and Ohio.

My Mother (b. Oct 9, 1905 - May 11, 1989, New Orleans) was a strong, gentle woman with a defined set of morals and values. We were raised Catholic and I have often said she was best friends with the Pope. My mother and father married in 1939.

My older brother Ernest J. Wilderson took me to the opera, ballets, and plays and these are still a major part of my interests.

My Elementary education was Catholic. Grades 7 and 8 were important because I found out I was reading and “computing” on a College sophomore level while in High School and scored a 128 IQ. I became a class leader and started the first cheerleading team.

I am assertive and will stand up for my rights and High School had a lot to do with that. Blacks were just beginning to integrate my School. There were 22 in a class of 382. The kids were more fair then the Staff. My grades were miscalculated for my admittance into the National Honor Society so I recalculated the grades of all applicants and made it known that if I wasn't inducted 20 were below me. Not a battle a 17-year-old should have to fight.

I was the first Black cheerleader and in the beginning ethnic slurs were written on lockers and basketballs, but eventually more positive attitudes prevailed. Joining the Prom Committee, I helped to move the location of the Prom because Blacks were not welcomed and moved it to a new venue. There was a new “thorn” every three months, but when you are 17 years old you just want to succeed and have a good time. I graduated number 22 out of the 382, won 13 scholarships, and plenty of dates.

I chose Southern Illinois University as my college. Had an absolute desire to go to school on Campus. Guess what? Southern was just like going to School in the deep south. Though, I personally had no negative experiences, a year of covert racism was enough for me.

I was offered a full paid scholarship to stay at Southern and study physics as a "computer" but I chose to become a teacher and returned to Chicago Teacher's College. I had a fabulous college experience, graduating on the Dean's List, initiated into a lifelong membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and all the parties and dates I could manage. Life was Great. [Note: Both Vivian, Carole's sister, and Nichol, Carole's niece also pledged AKA.]

I started teaching school in 1962. Traveled, saved money and was a source of pride to my family. Another 10 years of professional development up the educational ladder, from teacher to counselor to curriculum developer, a master degree, saving money, world travel, all the dates and parties I could manage.

Married only twice, divorced last in 1985.

I retired in 1995 with an early buy-out. For an additional 8 years I was an educational consultant and curriculum developer. That was a good time for I could set my own schedule and I worked all over the US with a special assignment to Australia.

A true blessing was at the age of 60, I met Chuck, a tall, handsome, wonderful man who was my friend and partner for 12 years. He passed soon after bringing me home from a trip to the hospital.

It was a joy sharing Nichol’s life in China. It came just about the time that Chuck died and that loss was filled with the excitement, smells, sensations and sights of that crazy place called China. No camera could replicate the images and colors that I hold in my mind. When I was a young woman, my mother didn't only want to go on trips with her friends. She always wanted to go with me and so I travel with Nicky (as well as my Snowbird friends.)

So regrets, I've had a few, but I know I have more music, travel, and excitement left in me! I AM Who I know I Am.

Carole Hill

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