Muriel Clarke Hill, beloved mother and grandmother, 102
A longtime employee at the Veterans Administration, loved poetry, reading and spending time with children and grandchildren
MURIEL CLARKE HILL was a devoted mother and grandmother who worked for 30 years as a clerk for the Veterans Administration.
In her spare time, she enjoyed reading, crocheting and completing cryptogram and crossword puzzles, her family said.
But "what she loved most was being with her children and grandchildren," said daughter Beverly Lomax.
"She was a good mother," Lomax said. "She was very supportive of whatever my brother and I wanted to do.
"She was always . . . understanding."
Mrs. Hill, 102, died in her sleep on Oct. 2 at her home in Hilltown, Bucks County.
Born on June 29, 1914, Mrs. Hill was the third of five children of Jesse Benjamin Clarke Sr. and Sadie Jeter Clarke.
Her father studied printing at Hampton Institute in Virginia, and her mother was a self-taught poet.
Together, they raised their family in Baltimore, where Mr. Clarke operated a printing business, Clarke Press, in the basement of their rowhouse.
As a girl, Mrs. Hill acted as a courier for her father and delivered printed orders to his customers.
Lomax said her grandfather would give her mother carfare, but she would keep the money and walk all over Baltimore to deliver the orders.
That's how her mother developed a lifelong love of walking, Lomax said.
Mrs. Hill attended Baltimore public schools, where she developed a love for the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. She often recited his poem "In the Morning" to her children and grandchildren.
After high school, Mrs. Hill attended Morgan College for two years.
She later married David Bennett Hill, and they had two children, Beverly and Bennett.
In 1944, the Hill family moved to Philadelphia, where David Hill worked as a U.S. Postal Service employee, and Mrs. Hill worked at several jobs before joining the VA.
In addition to family, church life was very important.
Catherine, Mrs. Hill's youngest sister, became a nun in the Oblate Sisters of Providence and remained one for 60 years until her death.
Mrs. Hill's late son, Bennett, was ordained as a monk in the Order of St. Benedict.
Mrs. Hill attended St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church in Baltimore. After she and her husband moved to Philadelphia, the family attended Our Lady of Victory Church in West Philadelphia, then Transfiguration Church in Southwest Philadelphia. Upon moving to Bucks County, Mrs. Hill attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Doylestown.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Hill is survived by six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter. Her husband died in 2002.
A memorial service was held Oct. 8. Donations may be made to the Oblate Sisters of Providence, 701 Gun Road., Baltimore, Md. 21227.
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