Eleanor Margaret Hill

 Eleanor Margaret Hill, aged 93, passed away on February 3rd 2025. She suffered from dementia for years and was living in a nursing home for about a year and a half. Her health recently began failing, but she still enjoyed being around others and having her morning coffee with friends.

Eleanor was born and raised in San Francisco, the third of five children, to Robert and Helen Benaderet. When she was 5, her mother got very ill and died. She was raised by her father and a neighbor who took care of the children while her father worked. It was at this time, during the very difficult years without a mother, that she learned never to complain about anything. And she never did. Ever. Instead, she always found the good in everything. She was that way until the very last days of her life. It was never, I want, or I need. It was always, “Can I help?” She always wanted to help others. And she always did.

Eleanor loved playing with her friends at Fleishhacker Pool, in the park under the Golden Gate Bridge and on the front stoop of her home. She was always a friendly, happy little girl who made friends easily. She often went along with her father as he worked some jobs. One was changing the records in jukeboxes. This is where she fell in love with music. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Andy Williams were her favorites. 

When she was a teenager, she met a handsome young Marine, named Ken Hill, stationed nearby. They fell in love and married when she was 17 and he was 19. After they married and when he left the Marines, he took her home to where his family lived on the east coast. It was a difficult move for her, because afterward, she rarely got to see her brothers, sisters and father. But her new family welcomed her with open arms and treasured their new daughter-in-law.

Within the first five years of their marriage, they had 4 children, Ken Jr., Ed, Pam and Tom. Eleanor loved being a mother. As the children grew and made friends, they all managed to make their way to the Hill house after school and played in the nearby park, learned to swim in the pool Ken Sr built, and enjoyed snacks and drinks regularly. She welcomed them all to her home and treated them as family. The more, the merrier.

As her children grew up and left home Eleanor and Ken took some time to travel a little, bought a little cabin at a lake, went fishing (Eleanor wouldn’t touch a fish for anything but she loved being with her Kenny) and enjoyed all their friends and family nearby. 

She is survived by 13 grandchildren (Kimberley, Kenneth the 3rd, Tara, Keri, Amanda, Justin, Ryan, Dennis, Nick, Kim, Tommy, MaryEllen and Blake).

She was also blessed with 13 great grandchildren! (Austin, Chloe, Peighton, Corinne, Dylan, Logan, Toby, Owen, Jordy, Bailey, Tommi, Summer and Matthew)

Her dearly loved Kenny died in 2013, leaving her feeling very sad, but Eleanor enjoyed the company of her grandchildren who lived nearby, and spent each winter in Louisiana with Pam and her family.

In 2019, she unexpectedly came to live full-time with Pam and David. Eleanor and Pam always had a very close relationship and did everything together. Whether sewing blankets at church, watching Pam swim in exercise classes, going to lunch, shopping, visiting friends…Eleanor and Pam were happy together. 

By 2024 her health began to deteriorate further, and she moved to a nursing facility. Pam maintained her daily visits with her, allowing their relationship to grow in yet another way. They became well known for their jigsaw puzzle activity, which they did every day. Eleanor was a very good puzzler.

Pam played her favorite music as she became less able to participate in activities. One day recently, as her illness was progressing, Pam played her favorite song, I Left My Heart in San Francisco, by Tony Bennett. She loved singing along with the radio, and she loved this song because San Francisco was her dearly loved hometown and where she met her Marine. 

Even in her delicate state she appeared to be trying to sing along with Tony. She was smiling and she was happy. As time went on, Eleanor’s health waned, but the loving kindness never diminished with all those around her. She was still the same sweet, kind, friendly Eleanor.

She will be dearly missed by a great many friends and family members.

There will be a memorial service on Feb 19, 2025 at 11:00 AM for Eleanor at St Paul Lutheran Church, 2021 Tara Blvd Baton Rouge, LA. She will be laid to rest in George Washington Memorial Cemetery at 234 Paramus Rd, Paramus, NJ on May 3, 2025 at 1:00 PM. There will be a brief graveside memorial service.