Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

MURFREESBORO – Margaret Parker Hill (“Mart” to family) found peace Tuesday, December 1, 2020. At 97, she could not see any more, she heard very little, and much of what she heard she questioned, but she heard and saw enough to ask questions to satisfy her curiosity.

She loved taking rides with her daughter around her familiar world—Murfreesboro, where she lived for 76 years, and the small, nearby town of Woodland, where she was born and raised, the inspiration for many of her stories and most of her convictions and attitudes. Her son-in-law helped her down steps and wheeled her to the car for these excursions, but she called him her “night nurse” as he responded to her calls. She talked to her brother Walt each night, and her day would not be complete until she got a “good night” from her son, Bill.

She had enjoyed over 50 years with her husband, William (Billy) Warwick Hill, one of the owners of Hill Chevrolet and Pontiac and, for 27 years, mayor of the town, dying in office one Christmas, making that a difficult season for her every year. She missed his company and his tireless good humor.

Mart was proud of her daughter, Jayne Hill Wolfskill, an educator with a 48-year career that ranged from elementary school teaching to college administration. She loved Jayne’s husband, Ken, also retired from higher education. She doted on her son, Bill Hill, Health Director for Nash County. Her children were never careful enough for her, and she was anxious that they be happy.

Mart enjoyed her place in Jayne and Ken’s home, looking out the den doors and windows at the world, always noting the wind and weather, but she delighted in being in the back seat of the car riding to Massachusetts or Indiana to see grandchildren and their children. She loved seeing her son pull into the yard for weekend visits. Her church, Murfreesboro UMC, and its future were important to her. She attended services two days before she died, saying, “I want to go as long as I can.” And she did.

Anxious for the ones she loved and scornful of the world’s misguided, she gave up her struggles and peacefully left us.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Raleigh Parker; her sister, Gwendolyn; and her husband, Billy.

Family members left to cherish her memory are her son, Bill Hill and his significant other, Kimberly Pridgen, of Rocky Mount; her daughter, Jayne and her husband, Ken; two grandchildren, William Judson Wolfskill and his wife, Miranda Miller, of Natick, MA, and Phoebe Elizabeth Wolfskill and her husband, Apu Kapadia, of Bloomington, IN; four great-grandchildren, Anamika, Rahi, Suzanna, and Georgia; her brother, Walter Raleigh Parker, Jr., PhD and his partner, Bill Thomas, of Rocky Mount; and a host of nieces, nephews, and their children.

Due to the Covid-19 circumstances, the public is welcome to visit Garrett-Sykes Memorial Chapel to sign the register and pay their respects on Thursday, December 3, 2020 between 2-7 p.m. There will be a Celebration of Life Graveside Service Friday, December 4, 2020 at 2 p.m. at Riverside Cemetery in Murfreesboro with Jason Villegas officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made directly to Murfreesboro United Methodist Church, 301 E. High Street, Murfreesboro, NC 27855 or online by visiting www.tmcfunding.com/search then type Margaret Hill.

Garrett-Sykes Memorial Chapel in Murfreesboro is handling the arrangements for the Hill family and online condolences can be directed to the family by visiting www.garrettsykesfs.com.