Richard Hill

Richard Cary Hill of Tiburon, a former member of the Marin Municipal Water District board of directors, died Feb. 5 of complications from a bad fall. He had suffered from post-polio for about 15 years. He was 82.

Mr. Hill served on the Parks and Open Space Commission in the early 1980s. In 1995, he was appointed to fill out the term of a departing MMWD board member, Rick Harris, and subsequently was elected to two full terms. He also had served on the Marin County civil grand jury and on a county committee that studied the budget process.

Born in 1930 in Los Angeles, Mr. Hill went to the Harvard School (now Harvard-Westlake School) in Los Angeles and received his bachelor's degree from Pomona College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He went on to earn a master's in business from Stanford University School of Business and a master's in business economics from Claremont College.

He worked for the Claremont Colleges in finance before moving to Northern California with his family. He settled in Tiburon and worked in the finance department at the University of San Francisco. He also had served as the firm manager for the law firm of Graham & James in San Francisco.

He helped set up the Marin Community Foundation financial systems when it was established. He retired in the 1980s.

"We will cherish his caring ways, love of education and lively sense of humor," said his wife Jill, a real estate broker.

Besides his wife, he leaves three children from his previous marriage, Cary Hill of Los Altos Hills, Wendy Ward of Carmel Valley and Debbie Jones of Moro Bay; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandchild; two stepchildren, Jim Culp of Los Gatos and Mary Jo Epperson of Soquel; and four step-grandchildren.

A celebration of his life will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 25 at Tiburon Yacht Club in Paradise Cay.

Donations in his memory may be sent to Marin Community Food Bank, 75 Digital Drive, Novato, CA 94949.