Martha R. Hill's Obituary
Martha Roberts Hill
1934 – 2016
Resident of Oakland
Martha R. Hill died peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones on July 25, 2016, at the age of 82. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she was the younger daughter of Daniel and Dorothy Roberts; her sister, Mary Jo Steever, died in 2014. As a child she excelled not only in piano and saxophone, but also field hockey and basketball.
Martha Hill was a graduate of Bucknell University (Delta Zeta, 1955), where she studied Biology. While working as a physical therapist at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia she met Dr Franklyn C. Hill, Jr., a resident neurologist. In 1957 she drove west, where she eventually took a job as a physical therapist at St Francis Hospital in San Francisco. Dr Hill was by this time a resident at Stanford Hospital, and the two were married in the city in 1959. They moved to Oakland, where Dr Hill opened a private practice, and where they raised their four daughters. An accomplished pianist, Martha Hill was also a committed volunteer for Carl B. Munck School, serving on the PTA, tutoring children, accompanying the school choir and individual instrumental performances, and forming the Mighty Munck Players with other members of the PTA.
In the 1980s she returned to part-time education, pursuing a B.A. in Music at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1985. She then taught piano privately for over 25 years.
For many years an enthusiastic tennis player, she was also a longtime subscriber to the Oakland Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the San Francisco Opera. She was a great friend to many and a devoted aunt. She was preceded in death by her husband, Franklyn Hill (2008), and is survived by her four daughters, Elizabeth, Anne, Martha, and Sarah (Gower), by eight beloved grandchildren, and by two great-grandsons.
A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland on Saturday, July 30th, 2pm, 2619 Broadway. Donations may be sent in her name to the Bucknell University Annual Fund.
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