James Robert Hill

Jan 17, 1935 - Dec 31, 2020

Jim Hill passed away peacefully on New Year’s Eve 2020 after a brief hospitalization. He will be remembered as generous and kind with a sharp sense of humor. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends.

Son to Richard J. and Neville W. Hill, and brother to Richard J. Hill III, Jim was born in New York. After graduating from Scarsdale High School, Jim continued his education at Dartmouth College where he was a member of the Beta house and played lacrosse. Upon graduation in 1956, Jim flew in the Air Force on active duty until 1959, and in the reserves until 1967.

Jim met Marcia Jane Toomin in Chicago, and was married in 1960. They soon moved to San Francisco, where Jim began working in institutional equity sales for Glore Forgan & Co., moving to W.E. Hutton, before spending the majority of his investment career at First Boston Corporation.

Jim and Marcia had two sons, Jim Jr., and Scott. Weekends were filled with skiing and water skiing in Tahoe, afternoons at Stinson, 49er games at Kezar and Candlestick, with proper attention given to apres ski, picnics and tailgating, as well as attending endless grammar and high school sporting events.

Tired of the early market hours, Jim changed careers and bought Fredericksen Hardware in 1976. He enjoyed his new title as President and CEO, and prided himself on not only delivering an unrivaled inventory to the local community, but building a strong management team to run the daily activities so he could enjoy his other passions. Very few afternoons did not find Jim playing golf at his beloved San Francisco Golf Club and capping the day with a game of dominoes, before heading back to the store to lock away the day’s spoils and debriefing with his managers at the Balboa Cafe. Having separated from Marcia in 1981, Jim was introduced to Mary Avery, then of Los Angeles. After their first meeting, Jim told his introducers that he had just met his future wife. Mary and Jim wed in 1988. Mary shared Jim’s passions for travel, golf, food, wine and entertaining. They traveled the country and world, golfing with friends and family on the East

Coast, England, Scotland, and Ireland, or touring the vineyards in Burgundy or Amalfi Coast in Italy. Each trip brought them back to San Francisco and their friends and family.

One rainy winter in the mid 90’s found them traveling to Kapalua, Maui for a couple of weeks in the sun. They fell in love with the island, and returned annually with the duration increasing from weeks to months, especially after Jim sold Fredericksen’s and officially retired in 1999. On Maui they met another group of friends that grew over the years, as well as hosted Jim and Scott and their families for special Christmas vacations on the beach. Each trip again brought them back to San Francisco and their friends and family.

Jim lost Mary after a long and heartbreaking battle with dementia in 2017. In those years and the ones that followed, Jim would spend time at his club, golfing when he could, playing dominoes, telling stories, hosting guests, and regaling people with semirelevant stories, solicited and generally useful advice, as well as unnecessary and often harshly obvious but accurate assessments of the outcomes of the attempted plays.

Jim lived a good life, in the way he wanted. He truly cared for those he knew and with whom he spent his time. No table was too small to add one more seat, no group to large to not add one more person. But you better be ready to laugh, with few topics off limits. Jim was predeceased by his parents, his brother Dick, wife Mary, and seemingly hundreds of friends who, with Mary, have been holding a spot at the table and a tee time for his arrival. He is survived by his sons, Jim (Chris), Scott (Laura), grandchildren Tyler, Alex, Macklin, Taylor, and seemingly hundreds more who will miss his presence, kindness and wit.