Avis E. Hill

Avis E. Hill, age 94, of Clarion passed away Monday, March 31, 2008 at Wright Medical Center in Clarion 

Funeral services for Avis Hill will be held Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. at United Methodist Church in Clarion, Iowa with Pastor Don Morrison officiating. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery, Clarion, Iowa.

Visitation for Avis Hill will be held Wednesday, April 2, 2008 from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. at Ewing Funeral Home, 602 North Main Street and continue one hour prior to services at the church.  

Avis E. Boyington, daughter of Chester Daniel (“John”) and Hattie (Campbell) Boyington, was born at Galt, Wright County, Iowa on September 8, 1913.  She was raised in Wright County, where her grandparents had been pioneer settlers in the middle years of the previous century.  Her parents moved to Clarion in 1918 with Avis, her two brothers and her sister.   In 1931 she graduated with honors from Clarion High School.

Avis Boyington began working in a law office in 1931.  When a member of the law firm was elected State Senator, she went to the legislature to work as a committee clerk and secretary in the Senate for several sessions.  She later worked for the State Board of Social Welfare in Des Moines.  While so employed she enrolled at the Des Moines College of Law, which later merged with the Drake University Law School.  She attended law classes at night school for three years.  

On September 18, 1939, she was married to Dale E. Hill in Des Moines.  To this union three sons were born: Steven, Mark and Douglas.  The couple farmed in Grant Township until 1973 when they moved into Clarion.  Avis was one of the first residents of the Meadows, moving there on August 1, 1993.

Throughout her life Avis Boyington Hill carefully kept and catalogued the pictures, letters and other documents about her family and her husband’s family.  These files and albums were a priceless source of information about the contemporary members of the Hill family and their in-laws.  She enjoyed genealogy and shared with all who were interested in family history.  She was one of the principal organizers of the reunion that brought 108 of the extended Hill family together in Clarion in July 1994. 

Avis was an active member of the First Methodist Church of Clarion, in which she held many offices, including serving as President of the U.M.W., Superintendent of the Sunday School, and Sunday School teacher for 11 years.  She also served on the Auxiliary of the Clarion Memorial Hospital, a member of the P.E.O. sisterhood and The Lacy Standish Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.

Avis is survived by three sons: Steve and wife Shirley, Mark and wife Connie all of Clarion, Douglas and wife Linda of Denver, Colorado; grandchildren: Kevin Hill and wife Lisa of Ames, Kristin Hill Ahrens and Robert of Clarion, Erin Hill of San Francisco, California, Ryan Hill of Chicago, Illinois, Megan Hill of Cedar Fall; two great-grandchildren: Elliott and Cael Ahrens and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Dale in 1994; one grandson Chad Hill; one sister Iris Lester; two brothers: Rex and Max Boyington.