Mr. Harlan "Jake" Hill's Obituary
Mr. Harlan “Jake” Ray Hill, age 89, of Spring Lake passed away Saturday, November 10, 2012. Harlan was born in Cambridge, Iowa, on August 4, 1923 to John and Etta (Emery) Hill. He served in the Army Air Corps and is a veteran of WWII. His military story was chronicled in a book, entitled “I Wanted Wings, A Tail Gunner’s Story”, written by his son, Gary and published in 2009. His WWII experiences found him serving as a tail gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress. His crew, based in Foggia, Italy, flew 27 bombing missions over Europe before their plane sustained flak damage resulting in the bombers engines catching fire and the crew bailing out over German held Northern Italy. He and four of his crew spent three months evading capture and then when captured on October 19, 1944, they were sent to German Prison Camps where they spent the last 7 months of the war. Following the war, he married Beatrice King in 1946. She passed away in late July of this year. Jake retired in 1985 from Bastian Blessing. He is a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Grand Haven. He enjoyed riding motorcycles, flying his 1938 Piper Cub, restoring antique cars, hunting and fishing, gardening and being a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is survived by his daughter Nancy Boothby (John) of Paw Paw, Michigan; his son Gary of Boston, Massachusetts, and a daughter Kimberly Toth (Jeff) of Nunica, Michigan. He has four grandchildren: Mark Boothby (Janelle) of Kalamazoo, Philip Boothby (Julie) of Chicago, Illinois, Megan Toth of Nunica and Matthew Toth of Chicago, Illinois; and three great-grandchildren Hannah, Jack and Ethan. Other survivors include his brother Thomas Hill (Hertha) of Spring Lake and sister-in-law Amy Hill of Grand Haven. He was preceded in death by his wife Beatrice; brothers, Oliver Hill and Glen Hill; twin sister Helen Voss and sister Catherine Ingersoll. The Funeral Service will be 2:30 PM Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at VanZantwick Bartels Kammeraad Funeral Home in Grand Haven. The Visitation will be Tuesday, November 13, 2012 from 2-4 and 6-8 PM at VBK Funeral Home in Grand Haven. The interment will be 1:30 PM Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at Lake Forest Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to Seventh-Day Adventist Church Building Fund or Wounded Warrior Project, 230 W. Monroe St., Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60606 630-522-4774, www.woundedwarriorproject.org. Please sign the family’s online guest book at www.vbkfuneralhome.com. The family is being served by VanZantwick Bartels Kammeraad Funeral Home of Grand Haven.
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