Willard Roy Hill, 80, of Tuscumbia, AL passed away on April 9, 2024. Visitation will be Thursday April 18,2024 from 12-2 pm at Colbert Memorial Chapel with a service to follow at 2:00 pm. Brother Michael South will be officiating. Burial in Colbert Memorial Gardens.
Willard was devout to the Church of Christ faith.
Willard was preceded in death by his parents Dillard and Estelle Hill His first wife Karen Ann Hill.
He is survived by his Wife Leslie Hill, son, Tim Hill (Pamela); brother, Randall Hill; sister, Jurdean Hill; grandchildren, Chris Hill (Stephanie), Brittany Hill; great-grandchildren, Liyleeona Hill, Jhye Hill, Aubrey Hill, Brooklynn Hill. Stepson, Noah Petty (Kortney) and 2 step grandchildren.
Born in Moulton, he learned hard work at an early age. At 12 he was helping his father on the farm, and, later with construction and heavy equipment. By the time he was 16 or 17 he was in charge of the labor force that was building Moulton first commercial building.
He married his school sweetheart in 1961. Busy making a living he had no time for class, so he quit school in the 9th grade .He was born with an uncanny knack for fixing things a natural talent for equipment and for figuring how to fix things. He started with little except strong back and dedication to hard work . Willard came to Florence in the late 1970s leasing 1,200 feet of riverfront and eight acres He started many different business being USA Reality, Savannah Salvage a forerunner of Hill Marina and his last business was Willard Steal and salvage..
TVA had contracted with Willard to salvage a capsized vessel know as Luci for short.. The sunken vessel was on Wheeler Dam along the Tennessee River. she was 400 tons of steal and wood. The temps had been zero three or four days and the ice damaged her a caused a water intake filter to burst. He said the first thing you have to do is flip it over and he said its not as easy as flipping a pancake.
Willard loved what he had done for many years and you could see the look on his face when he would talk about all the things he had done and was so proud to have been able to do them.
