Necrology
Charles Freeman Hill '36
Jul. 1, 1914-Oct. 11, 1999
Charles Freeman Hill ’36, a former radio program director and organist and choirmaster, was born on July 1, 1914, to Norman C. and Helen Boyd Hill, in New York City. He grew up in Westfield, NJ, and came to the College in 1932 from Westfield High School. Charlie Hill joined Delta Upsilon and gave expression to his lifelong devotion to music by singing in the Choir. Manager of the cross-country team in his senior year, he concentrated in French as well as music and was graduated in 1936.
Charlie Hill took courses in music education at New York University and was employed in the music rights division of the National Broadcasting System when he was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941. He served through the end of World War II, becoming chapel organist and assistant director of the glee club at Brooks Field in Texas. Discharged from the Air Force as a sergeant in 1945, he entered the radio broadcasting field in Plattsburgh, NY. In 1948, he joined newly established station WJLK in Asbury Park, NJ, as an announcer.
Promoted six years later to program director of the station, Charlie Hill also found time to serve as organist and choir director at Christ Church-Unity in Asbury Park, serve as dean of the Monmouth County chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and compose sacred music. In 1969, he was appointed organist and choirmaster of Trinity Episcopal Church in Red Bank.
Since the 1980s, Charles F. Hill had been living in retirement in Wilmington, DE. He died there, according to verification recently obtained by the College, on October 11, 1999. He was unmarried, and survivors include a nephew, David B. Volckmann ’64.
