Richard D. Hill

Richard Devereux Hill, a resident of Fox Hill Village in Westwood, died Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at the Clark House in Westwood after a brief illness.  He was 96  Dick was born November 6, 1919 in Salem, Massachusetts, the only son of Robert William and Grace Ellingwood (Dennis) Hill.  He graduated from Salem High School and Phillips Exeter Academy before continuing his studies at Dartmouth College where he earned his Masters of Commercial Science from the Tuck School.  During World War Two Mr. Hill served as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy.  Much of his Navy service was spent in the Solomon Islands as a bomb disposal officer.  After the war Richard worked for the First National Bank of Boston.  In 1966 he was named president of the bank and in the early 1970’s he became its chairman and chief executive until his retirement in 1984.  Mr. Hill has served as a director on many boards including John Hancock Mutual Life, New England Telephone and Telegraph, Polaroid, Raytheon, and Fox Hill Village in Westwood where he served as chairman of the board.  He also served as chairman of Dartmouth College’s Board of Trustees.  In addition he was a former president of the Museum of Fine Arts, and was named a Distinguished Bostonian in 1985 by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.  He was awarded honorary degrees from Dartmouth College, Babson, Boston College, Northeastern University and Tufts University.  Mr. Hill is survived by his wife of almost 69 years, Mildred E. “Polly” (Bergstedt) Hill; his daughter, Johanna Ellingwood Simpson, and her husband Richard, of Hancock, New Hampshire; his two sons, Steven Devereux Hill, and his wife Catherine, of Chestnut Hills, and Richard Devereux Hill Jr., and his wife Susan, of Wellesley; his eight grandsons, Charles Ellingwood Simpson, Peter Devereux Simpson, Jonathan Hill Simpson, James Devereux Hill, Timothy Clayton Hill, Frederic William Hill, David Devereux Hill, and William Christopher Hill; and two great grandchildren, Molly Crystal Simpson, and Luke Ellingwood Simpson.  He was the brother of the late Emily Hubon Hill.  Relatives and friends are invited to attend his Memorial Service Thursday, March 17, 2016 at the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church, 207 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA at 11 AM.  Private interment will be held at Greenlawn Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts at a later date.  In lieu of flowers memorial gifts to Dartmouth College for the Dick and Polly Hill Scholarship Fund, Dartmouth College, 6066 Development Office, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755 would be appreciated.