Oliver Brooks Hill died at Westhaven Senior Care in Orland on Saturday, October 5, 2024, a month short of his 102nd birthday. He was born in Willows to Harry K. Hill and Dorothy Bellville Hill on November 23, 1922, joining his older sisters, Edith (Edie) and Marie (Mimi).
His younger brother, Robert (Bob), was born 10 years later.
His father had a coal and oil business and added beekeeping to his business to fill the summer months when coal and oil were in less demand. Oliver grew up helping his father keep bees and became an excellent beekeeper, later serving a term as the California Beekeepers Association President.
He had a great love of music and saved up to buy a clarinet when he was12 years old. L.A. MacArthur recognized his skill on the clarinet and promoted him to the high school band while he was still in grammar school.
He had a strong interest and aptitude for mechanical things and built a tractor when he was in high school.
From an early age, he worked for Lester Lederer, a farmer in the hills west of Willows. That experience led to Oliver’s later design of self-leveling harvesters for hillsides in the Idaho Palous area, with design patents when he later worked for Case Tractor in Stockton.
Later in life, he was a member of the Vintage Iron Club.
He was accepted at University of California, Berkeley, when he left high school, but he returned home to work in the family bee business and because World War II was imminent. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in January of 1943 and saw active duty in Germany before being sent to Japan for the final invasion.
The atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima while he and other troops were on a ship headed to Japan, and he arrived there as part of the Japan occupation troops. His interests were reflected in the unusual items he brought home, like an Ohm meter with Japanese characters.
He was honorably discharged from the Army in February, 1946. He reentered UC, Berkeley, to earn a degree in agricultural engineering and played clarinet in the band while he was there.
A lover of music, he married Heather Hinshaw, initially attracted to her beautiful soprano voice in the church choir. They had two sons together, Rodney (Cynthia) and Stanley (Sandra), but later divorced.
He returned to Willows full-time to manage the family business, and he met Nora McKenzie through a beekeeper friend. She had three children, Katherine, Laurel (Kevin), and Wayne (deceased).
They added two children to the family: Norman (deceased) and Adrian (Diane).
Oliver and Nora ran the family bee business, but his first love was engineering. His children recall growing up with an electric forklift that Oliver built in 1958.
He built other innovative equipment, including being a co-inventor of the boom hive loader. The hive loader was a huge asset to beekeepers at a time when all loading and unloading were done by hand.
He was a skilled welder and did much of the specialty welding for a local welding business.
After retiring from beekeeping, he served on the Willows Library Board, the Colusa Historical Society, and Senior Nutrition committee. In retirement, he restored antique farm machinery and a Model TT truck that originally belonged to his father.
He was a lifelong member of the Willows Methodist Church and particularly loved singing in the choir.
He married Louella Kennedy in 2003, when their respective spouses passed away. He and Louella shared a mutual love of music and family events.
He loved being part of the large Kennedy family and enjoyed Louella’s adult children, Deborah (David), Yvonne (Larry), Sherrill (Dan), Laurie (Jack), Erle (Andrea), Dan (Lisa), Mike (Teri), and Sam, and their young children. Oliver leaves many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nieces from his families.
He is survived by his younger brother, Robert.
The family would like to thank Westhaven Senior Care for Oliver’s exceptional care, and Enloe Hospice for their kind assistance at the end.
A Celebration of Life has been set for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 19, at the Willows Methodist Church.
The Glenn County Observer 