MUSICIANS JANEY KATZ - Zia Publishing

LONGTIMERSBY BRETT FERNEAUJACK & ALICEHillPHOTOGRAPHY BY JOE BURGESSYour age? Jack: 84. Alice: 83.Were the “good old days” really allthat good? Jack: They were basicallypeople-friendly. Alice: Silver City was anice town to grow up in.As a child, what was one of thethings you enjoyed most? Jack:Swimming. Alice: Horseback riding.As a child, what was one of thethings you enjoyed least? Alice:Sauerkraut juice.Is life better/easier now? Jack: Welived through the great depression, sothings are better now than then. Alice:Everybody was in the same boat, though.We didn’t feel deprived.What has been one of the biggestchanges in southwestern NewMexico over the years, and how doyou feel about it? Jack: There’s been abig increase in population. That’s bothgood and bad. We’ve lost a lot of privacy.Alice: A lot of people want to changeeverything. I’m all for change, but ifsomething’s not broken you shouldn’t tryto fix it.What is your favorite place to visit inSilver City? Jack: I enjoy lunch at thebowling alley after a round of golf. Alice:Good heavens, to have to pick one out!I’d say the Silver City Museum.Do you have a favorite actor ormovie? Jack: “A Shot in the Dark” withPeter Sellers. Alice: “Pretty Woman” withJulia Roberts.If you had all the money in the world,what would you do with it?Jack: Spend it. Alice: I’d see somebodyI love who needed something and buyit for them. I might even get Jack a pairof shoes.What event or occurrence do you feelhad a large impact on our area or onyou personally? Both: The war (WorldWar II).What do think of current technology?Jack: Fabulous. Alice: Too much, too fast.What do you know about people andlife today that you wish you hadknown when you were younger?Alice: I wouldn’t want to know; that wouldtake all the spontaneity out of life. Life isall about what’s around the next corner.Is there something helpful you wouldlike to say to young people who arejust starting out? Jack: Get thateducation, but have fun too. Alice: I’d liketo see kids have time to be kids whilethey’re still young. I’d also say: There’smore good than bad to life. You cancount on it.Jack and AliceHill were bothborn in Silver City just a yearapart, but they didn’t meet untilJack was home on leave duringWorld War II. The young Navytorpedo bomber pilot was thebest man at a good friend’swedding, while Alice was thereas a bridesmaid for her owngood friend. Jack and Alice were later married in the same church.For seven years after the war the couple operated Hill’s Camp, a combination storeand service station with rental cabins located across from Benny’s Market on PopeSt., where Med Square stands today*.From there they both went on to long careers in education. Jack taught mathfor ten years at Cobre and 18 years at Silver High School before becoming principalthere.“I was talked into it,” he says modestly of his tenure as principal.Alice was a secretary for 29 years at Stout and La Plata Middle Schools, which werecalled junior high schools at the time.“I loved every minute of it,” she reports, “I liketeenagers.”With her sister Ida Foster Campbell, Alice FosterHill researched and wrote Triumph and Tragedy: AHistory of Thomas Lyons and the LCs, published byHigh-Lonesome Press. It is the documented truestory of partners Thomas Lyons and AngusCampbell, who founded an immense cattle empire,the LC Ranches, in southwest New Mexico in the late19th century.Jack and Alice are proud of the book andtheir own careers, but prouder of theirthree grown children: Bobbi, aguidance counselor, John, whoworks in construction and buildshandcrafted furniture, andScott, a physicaltherapist. All threelive in the SilverCity area.*See State SenatorBen Altamirano’s story inthe previous issue ofSilver City Life.56 – SILVER CITY LIFE