Shelba Hill always made sure she was properly prepared for a doctor visit.
“We’d go to an appointment and she’d take along a pineapple upside-down cake or something she’d baked,” said her husband of 54 years, Larry Hill, 74. “It was just what she did. She was so nice.”
Mrs. Hill died Feb. 20 at age 75 of congestive heart failure.
She grew up in Herculaneum and met her future husband at a “teen town” event at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
“We both lived in Herculaneum, but I went to Assumption (Catholic School) and she went to public school, so we didn’t really interact much,” Larry said.
But the two quickly found a common interest.
“She and I both loved to dance,” Larry said. “Back in the late 50s, early 60s, there wasn’t a whole lot of us had cars. So it was good to have someplace we could walk to on a Saturday night.
“One person out of 12 might have a car, so we’d all pile in and go to teen town in Pevely or Festus or wherever.”
The pair dated “off and on” until she graduated in 1960.
“She was a year older, so I still had another year,” Larry said. “We both dated other people. She went to cosmetology school in Festus, then went to work as a beautician with her aunt who had a shop in Herculaneum. I went in the Air Force after graduation.”
But they couldn’t stay apart.
“I came home on leave and we got married,” Larry said with a laugh.
He was stationed near Tacoma, Wash., and his new bride went to work for a pharmaceutical company. The Hills were in Washington more than two years, and welcomed their first son, Shawn, there.
After Larry was discharged in 1966, the Hills returned to Herculaneum, where they had a second son, Dustin. Mr. Hill worked briefly at United Nuclear in Hematite, then went to Dow Chemical in Pevely, where he stayed 30-plus years His wife worked for a while at Howard Industries in Festus, then worked as a clerk/cashier at several local stores like Venture.
“She loved people, loved talking to them,” her husband said. “She was good at listening, getting them to talk. Most people who met her thought a lot of her.”
Over the years, the Hills continued indulging their love of dance.
“We’d go to the Democratic Club, the KC Hall – there was always a dance someplace,” Larry said. “We did competitions a few times – and sometimes we won – but mostly just did it for fun.”
They also enjoyed fishing together.
“She’d go out in the boat with me, but she didn’t really like it because she never learned to swim,” Larry said. “She liked to fish off the dock, or on the bank of a pond or creek.”
And their catch never went to waste.
“Oh, we always cooked what we caught,” Larry said. “She was a wonderful cook. Nothing fancy, just good old-time cooking. She could take anything and create a meal.”
The couple also enjoyed playing cards.
“She liked to play pitch,” Larry said. “We had family members, neighbors and friends who would get together and play maybe every week or so. We really enjoyed it.”
In 2004, the Hill home was one of several Doe Run purchased in a buyout, and they moved to Festus. Both longtime parishioners at Assumption Church, they switched to Our Lady in Festus
“She did not want to leave Herculaneum,” Larry said of his wife. “After we left, I couldn’t hardly drive through there with her because she would tear up. But we didn’t really have a choice; everybody was moving out. It wouldn’t have been the same anyway, if we had stayed.”
Mrs. Hill’s last job was at the Teamsters camp in Pevely, where she helped run a kids’ camp for three summers. She enjoyed spending time with her three grandchildren, Taylor, Erin and Tyler, particularly bonding with Taylor over their shared love of dance.
“She was a good grandma,” Larry said. “When they were little, she’d crawl into the tent with them and read a story.”
She also enjoyed volunteering in the gift shop at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City, until she was physically unable.
Mrs. Hill had successfully battled a number of health issues over the years, having undergone a mastectomy to treat breast cancer and triple bypass surgery for a heart condition. So her family didn’t realize at first how ill she had become.
“When you live with a person, it’s such a gradual thing, you don’t realize,” Larry said. “Looking at pictures, it was amazing how different she was over the last few years.
“She used to love going to casinos, and she just didn’t have the energy. She got to where she couldn’t do much of anything but sit and watch her cooking shows.”
From mid-January on, she was in and out of the hospital, being treated for congestive heart failure.
“I’d get her out a few days, and she’d have to go right back in, mainly due to fluid build up,” Larry said. “It was a terrible thing to watch.
“As hard as it is for me to deal with not having her here, it was harder to watch her go downhill.”
Larry said his wife will be remembered as a good, caring person.
“That’s really what she was. She was a good, sincere person. She treated everyone by the old Golden Rule.”
“Life Story,” posted Saturdays on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.