Joan Elizabeth Hill, 76, of Festus died Sept. 8, 2026, after a yearlong battle with cancer. Mrs. Hill was raised in Herculaneum. She attended Assumption Catholic School and graduated in 1968 from St. Pius X High School in Festus. She met her husband early in life as neighborhood friends, and they remained so until after high school. Married in 1971, they bought a home in Herculaneum, blocks from where they both grew up, choosing to raise their three children amidst their friends and family. She was a member of the former Assumption Catholic Church in Herculaneum for most of her life and, in later years, Our Lady Catholic Church in Festus. She held a variety of clerical jobs throughout her life, but was best known for her caregiving, primarily for family, but also for those around her. She was eager to offer a ride to church or a medical appointment, supply a meal or a shoulder to cry on for those in need. While she lived her entire life in Jefferson County, she was an adventurer. She traveled to far-off places like Thailand and Greece and cruised the waters off Alaska and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. When at home, she loved caring for her flower beds and watching hummingbirds. Born May 17, 1950, in St. Louis, she was the daughter of the late Betty (Simms) and Nicholas Bates.
She is survived by her husband of 55 years: Randy Hill; two sons: Travis (Angie) Hill of Festus and Nathan (Amy Carso) Hill of Columbia; a daughter: Amy (Bill) Lundberg of Duluth, Minn.; two brothers: Billy (the late Jane) Bates and Jimmy (the late Terry) Bates; six grandchildren: Jacob (Rebecca) Hill, Molly (Clay) Carroll, Macy (Grant) Hopkins, Eliza Lundberg, Sophia Lundberg and Noah Lundberg; four great-grandchildren: Eden Hill, Walden Hill, Rainey Hopkins and Birdie Carroll; and her nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and friends.
She was preceded in death by her mother-in-law and father-in-law: Margaret and Lawrence Hill; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws.
Visitation is scheduled from 9 a.m. until a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14, at Our Lady Catholic Church, 1550 St Mary’s Lane, in Festus, officiated by Father Zac Povis. Interment will be at a later date in Assumption Catholic Cemetery in Herculaneum. Memorials may be made to the St. Vincent DePaul Society of Sacred Heart or Our Lady Catholic Churches. Arrangements are under the direction of Vinyard Funeral Home in Festus.