Thursday, August 11, 2011

Jerry Hill, Dallas officer who found JFK evidence and handcuffed Oswald, dies at 8


Jerry Hill, Dallas officer who found JFK evidence and handcuffed Oswald,
dies at 81

Sgt. Gerald "Jerry" Hill, on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book
Depository, shouted the news that the perch from where JFK was
assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, had been found.

By JOE SIMNACHER
Staff Writer

Published 09 August 2011 11:25 PM

Gerald Lynn "Jerry" Hill was a sergeant working a desk job at Dallas
police headquarters when he was thrust into the spotlight on Nov. 22, 1963.

When he learned President John F. Kennedy had been shot, Mr. Hill
raced across downtown Dallas to the Texas School Book Depository. He was
one of the three lawmen who located the sniper's nest and three spent
shell casings near a sixth-floor window.

Later that day, Mr. Hill handcuffed the accused assassin, Lee Harvey
Oswald , at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff.

Mr. Hill was with the Dallas Police Department for more than 24 years,
and he gave interviews about his firsthand account of history well after
he retired.

Mr. Hill, 81, died July 29 of multiple health problems at Kindred
Hospital Tarrant County-Arlington.

A memorial will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church of
Duncanville , where he was an active member. He donated his remains to
the Willed Body Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

"He was interviewed forever; every once in a while, we still get a phone
call," said his wife, Bobbye Myers Hill of Duncanville. "He never
believed in a conspiracy. He was kind about it. He understood people had
a right to think what they wanted to."

Mr. Hill was born in Ferris and grew up in Dallas, where he graduated
from Adamson High School.

He attended night school at Southern Methodist University and worked
as a cub reporter for the Dallas Times Herald, his wife said.

After he served in the Air Force during the Korean War, Mr. Hill
returned to North Texas, where he worked briefly for WBAP-TV (Channel 5)
before joining the Dallas Police Department in 1955.

After he retired from the department in late 1979, Mr. Hill expanded
his part-time work with H&R Block , including time as a regional
director in El Paso.

Mr. Hill then returned to the Dallas area, where he operated a tax
business and bookstore.

He always kept busy, serving on the Duncanville City Council,
supporting community theater and the library, working as a deputy
constable for eight years, and providing security at Duncanville High
School.

In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, Rusty Hill of
Duncanville and Randy Hill of Houston; six grandchildren; and two
great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Christmas pageant at First Baptist Church
of Duncanville.


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