Part II

By David Jon Hill

Also in 1953, Charles Dorothy, my "brother," left the University of Washington and his ROTC status and came to AC for the Fall term. He began his AC course and it soon became clear that he had a facility for languages and research. He studied and later taught Greek. He added to his Spanish toward a PhD degree, and took up Hebrew -- a glutton for punishment!

Back to my sister, Karen: in addition to her duties she began to care for Grandma Armstrong, Herbert's mother. My mother had been a nurse and she passed on most of her knowledge to Karen. As well, Karen had continued with private study to improve and update that knowledge. Grandma was living with Dwight Armstrong, Herbert's brother, at the time and until her death. Karen and Dwight became acquainted in this manner and got married in 1954. This made for some sort of further relationship with me and the Armstrongs that I never did figure out -- if I had kept at it I probably would have found out that I was my own grandpa. Dwight, as most know, was the composer of most of the Hymns in the Church Hymnal, used for so many years, and an accomplished violinist. He was a quiet man and kept mostly to himself -- a good match for my sister's social ability and talkative nature.

Brian Knowles, whom you readers of The Journal know from his articles in almost every issue, was mentioning to me that there are three generations of people who have a relationship with what was and still is the Worldwide Church of God and that there are some, perhaps many, who would have no idea who I used to be, and some who are unfamiliar with the first two generations. To make his point he mentioned a person who asked "Who is Ted Armstrong?" Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was the founder of the WCG, Garner Ted Armstrong, his son and the one who carried the most of the broadcasting in his time was the leader of the second generation (of whom I am a part). The third generation is basically running what is called the WCG, but has very little semblance to the original, is headed by Joseph Tkach Jr. Perhaps this helps a little.

I left off last time with Audrey and I, with David and Molly Antion, starting the Oklahoma City and Tulsa congregations in the summer of 1960 (well before many of you may have been born!). To connect important personalities I need to mention that Molly is the sister of Shirley Armstrong who was married to Ted Armstrong. Both are among the children of: Roy and Pearl Hammer. Roy was responsible for donating the property in Big Sandy, Texas which was expanded to accommodate a Feast site and another Ambassador College. Molly is a bright, intelligent and charming person as is her sister Shirley. The sad news I received as I am writing this is that their brother, Buck, has just passed away. Buck was a close friend of mine in my Big Sandy sojourn. Friendly, humorous and all man. Buck accompanied me on baptizing visits, and one time we were having a brief lunch in a park and a bug landed in his glass of milk. Buck said, "This little bugger is moving his legs so fast I can't tell whether he's cloven footed or not!" Typical Texas and typical Buck! I honor and will miss him remembering his contributions to serve at his best at all times.

After the summer of 1960 I returned to HQ and my duties there. Audrey and I were good friends with Ted and Shirley Armstrong, saw movies, went to have pizza and chicken and Mexican food together -- good friends enjoying life and hard work together. I would often brainstorm together with Ted on articles, sermons and broadcast ideas. By the summer of '61, as a foursome, we had the opportunity of making a six week tour of Europe. We embarked on the Queen Mary, first class, and had a marvelous time for the five days of the crossing before beginning our tour. We wandered around deck at all hours (because ship time was changing by 20 minutes more than once a day to make up for the difference) singing songs together and generally having fun. Ted was forever teasing Shirley about something, and on board he had her convinced that a real horserace would be held -- she could believe this because of the monstrous size of the vessel, swimming pools, ball rooms, many lounges, stores, beauty parlors, etc., a floating city. Of course the horse race was a previous one, filmed from who knows where and we got to bet if we wished. And so it went, we had a ball and learned a great deal to help in our part of the work at that time. We rented a car in Paris and drove over 6000 kilometers ending up in Paris.

The highlight of our trip, import wise was a visit to the just constructed Berlin Wall. Ted and I took a taxi to East Berlin, the girls didn't want to go. This was fifteen years after the close of World War II (third generation please look this up in your history books). West Berlin and all of West Germany were bustling, rebuilt, showy. East Berlin was a mess. The streets were still full of rubble. The world famous Adler Hotel had one wall missing and you could still see into the rooms, a ghostly sight. There were armed soldiers at every intersection of the streets on which we were allowed, very little traffic, few people on the street and those that were appeared dejected. The Cold War became very real to us, as well as the possibility of nuclear war on our own soil perpetrated by the same powers that had made these people's lives so miserable -- that our cities could be even more devastated, not just rubble, but radioactive pools of total waste.

We parted in Madrid, Ted and Shirl going on to London and home and Audrey and I going on to Paris to drop off the car. We then went to Oslo to visit relatives, more than I have here in the USA. I gained five pounds in five days! Their custom is to have a hearty breakfast, with beer, brake at ten for a snack -- some of the most delicious food known to mankind in more than enough quantities -- have another hearty lunch at noon, another brake for smorgasbord at two, and a sumptuous supper, perhaps about nine in the evening.

My cousin, Odd Baaken, was an engineer and an underground fighter in WWII. My cousin Torbjorn was a brain surgeon who had endured the privations of the Nazi occupation -- but they all referred to them as the "visitors." The Nazi's burned down most of the trees in Norway before they left and my Uncle Arndt devised a process of packed earth more than two feet thick to construct new homes. Uncle Arndt was the only member of the family who did not speak English, but we had no difficulty communicating because we both spoke Spanish!

Then it was back to the grind of HQ. But we took a brief holiday with our son in a trip into the mountains in the High Sierras -- 6000' plus. I waded barefoot in what appeared to be pristine waters and cut, very superficially, my left foot on the bottom. I cleaned it and bandaged it, and thought nothing of it. After a couple of weeks into the new college year, with the Feast of Tabernacles coming up (a very busy time) my foot became infected. I was anointed and again thought nothing of it. It got worse and after a couple more weeks I had to get around on crutches, but I kept working. Not very long later I noticed I had a red streak up my leg to my hip. I went to the college Doctor -- the same one that delivered Jonathan -- and in his usual Doctor humor he asked me, "What kind of flowers do you like?" He told me if the blood poisoning continued to my armpits that I would not survive. I went to bed finally. The red line went to my armpit, and my neck, I developed a severe fever of 106, and was delirious most of the time. Audrey and a close family friend Coesta Carter (whom I was to later perform her marriage ceremony to Robert Bertuzzi who became a minister later) nursed me 24 hours a day.

Mr. Herbert Armstrong came by to anoint me personally and informed me that because of my condition I would not have to fast from water on the Day of Atonement. However, I did abstain from water that Day of Atonement anyway. My mother had found out about my condition and sent a recipe for a poultice to draw out the poison: flax seed, a plug of chewing tobacco and some glycerin to keep it moist and not stick like cement to my foot. Audrey applied the poultice and kept replacing it with Coesta's help. The Feast was fast approaching and most everyone had already left for Squaw Valley. By the third day of the use of the poultice my fever had disappeared, my foot looked like a newborn's and I felt great!

I had Audrey fix me up in the back seat of our car and she drove us to the Feast. I gave a sermonette there (on crutches, still needed) explaining how important even the most minor parts (as with the Church) of our bodies are of great import. Since then I have never ignored my feet, even though they seem so far away from the real me in my head. By the time the Feast was over I no longer needed crutches and have not 'til this day. Then it was back to the grind.

As I recall it was sometime during this period that my brother Charles Dorothy was busy getting his doctorate for teaching Spanish and compiling lists of what he wanted in a wife (I was a romantic, he was an academic). His list required the usual needs every man thinks he needs; good looking, well endowed physically, dedicated to her man etc. But he also required a brilliant mind, the ability to discuss deep subjects and an academic background almost as good as his (we don't want to give the little woman too much of an edge!). He found what he was looking for and married Joann Feldt, fathered five fine children, all of whose initials were CVD! So, even though he was an only child he certainly did pass on the family name.

I think it was during that year and the following summer that I started congregations in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. In order to minister to them, visiting and baptizing new members I spent both days of the weekend covering what seemed like every square foot of Arizona. I would drive over with a student or two in training one weekend and fly over with my wife on the alternate weekends. There was a car there available for this job. This did not leave one jot or tittle of free time for yours truly and my wife alternately,  always busy, but lonely every other weekend. Vernon Hargrove took over at the end of Summer.

In the fall of '61 I went hunting in Colorado with Ted and several others. We were quartered out of a member's ranch. We were all successful. I bagged a five point (Western count) monster that field dressed at 240 pounds, as well as a doe and a fawn. It was a three deer area. I killed the fawn because its foreleg was broken and dangling by a piece of skin -- it never would have made it through the Winter -- we used it for camp meat. I mention this incident because later that meat saved my son's life -- I'll bring that in when it happened.

By Jonathan Preston Hill

The preceding paragraph was the last one my beloved father wrote. Life concluded his story with the same conclusion we all reach -- the end. A few weeks later, on December 10, 2003, David Jon Hill's first Great Grandson Preston Conner Hill was born to the Hill family. Preston will hear many old tales, both foolish and wise, about his Great Grandfather, a true Viking and loving father.