Norman Bruce Hill

Norman Bruce Hill passed away in Baton Rouge on Thursday, January 11, 2024.  He was born on December 16, 1939, in Bastrop, LA to Fern and Amon Hill.  He graduated from Bastrop High, class of ’57, and then earned a degree from LA Tech in Mechanical Engineering.  But his heart was as a true tiger fan, and in his senior years, he and his wife lived within walking distance of Tiger Stadium for a decade.  Bruce served in the United States Air Force, teaching computer programming in the early days of computers at Keesler Air Base in Biloxi and then in Colorado Springs.  Computers in those days were not tabletop machines, but were walk-through rooms filled with streams of printouts, paper with perforated edges.  After the Air Force, Bruce chose to pursue a business career rather than return to engineering.  He became a Life Insurance Agent and eventually a Certified Financial Planner.  Returning to Louisiana from Colorado, Bruce and his family spent 30 years in New Orleans, moving to Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina, with a side jaunt for four years in Virginia when grandson Callahan was born.  Bruce will be remembered by some in New Orleans as a boxing instructor at the Neutral Corner on Magazine Street.  He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Max Hill.  He is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Charlette Anderson Hill; and by his daughters and their families, Jenny Hill McGee and her husband, Steve, Chandler Hill Sampson and her husband Rick; grandson, Callahan Sampson; sister-in-law, Sandy Stevenson of Farmerville; niece and nephew, Stephanie Lipton of Winter Haven Florida, and Jay Stevenson of Shreveport; brother-in-law, Charlie Anderson of Ocean Springs; and he may be remembered by nephews Jason, Garland, and Parker Hill.

A brief memorial service will be held on March 9, 2024 at Broadmoor United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Tunnel to Towers Foundation to benefit families of First Responders. 

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether be a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived here.  This is to have succeeded.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Family and friends may sign the online guestbook or leave a personal note to the family at www.resthavenbatonrouge.com.