Royce Walter Hill

Royce W. Hill was born to Dean and Eunice (List) Hill on September 25, 1959. He was baptized at Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle and confirmed his faith in the Lord at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Federal Way. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, Auburn, WA, Class of 1978. 

Royce died at home on May 22 after a battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Cecilia, his children Annabelle and Ezra, his former wife, Rebecca, his parents Dean and Eunice Hill, his sisters Louise Thomas (Nigel and Robin), Teresa Pedersen (Doug; Chris) and Corinne (Steven; Henry and Kaia; David and Leila) as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Royce excelled in school and committed himself to lifelong learning. He participated in many individual and team sports and especially enjoyed outdoor activities like hunting, skiing and hiking. Royce learned logging skills through the Future Farmers of America (FFA), including log rolling and pole climbing; sometimes neighbors would call the house to report that Royce was climbing neighborhood telephone poles when he was out honing his pole climbing skills.

Royce played classical violin throughout his youth but was heavily influenced by music his family listened to on the radio every Saturday night. Royce developed a deep love for bluegrass, old-time country and gospel music. He taught himself to “fiddle” and play the guitar so that he could compete in old-time fiddler competitions, including the Washington State Fiddler Contest. Royce fiddled alone and as a duo with a close family friend and Ryderwood old-timer/former logger, Grady Rister. People loved to hear the “young feller” and the “old-timer” play their fast-paced fiddling music!

Royce earned his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering Technology – Surveying from the Oregon Institute of Technology. He paid his way through college by working each summer in a remote cannery (Columbia Wards Fisheries Salmon Cannery) in Ekuk, Alaska, together with many family members and high school friends.

Royce built and maintained close circles of friends throughout his life - extended family, childhood and high school friends, fellow surveyors, church groups, friends, athletic training groups, and Christian hiking groups. Royce also loved his immediate family deeply, quietly absorbing many of the interests of his father, Dean Hill.

Royce and Rebecca Landis were married in Salem, OR. They have two wonderful children, Annabelle and Ezra. Royce was a Christian man and an active church member. He loved putting on puppet shows at church and taking on different characters as a way of sharing his faith in God. Royce loved his children dearly, photographing many special moments to store these precious memories. Royce also actively shared his passion for the outdoors and country living by including Annabelle and Ezra in as many outings as possible.

Royce and his current spouse, Cecelia, enjoyed hiking and camping, both with family and Christian hiking group friends. Royce made a huge impression on his siblings and “Hill Family” nieces and nephews by organizing a family group camp adventure near Mt. Rainier in the summer of 2024. Despite having advanced cancer, Royce led the “young-uns” on treks in the Mt. Rainier National Forest and sparked an interest in the younger generation to continue these family camping adventures in honor of Royce.

Royce worked with private surveying firms in Salem, Bellingham, Oklahoma City, Portland, and Chehalis. He eventually founded his own surveying company, Cornerstone Surveying. In 1988, Royce earned “The Cornerstone Award” in recognition of his on-site volunteer service on the Wycliffe Bible Translation Center in Dakar, Senegal.

In 2008, Royce published Willamette Meridian Word Lore, a comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of his trade. He dedicated the book to the men who shaped him as a youth - his father, Dean Hill, his grandfather, Fred List, his first cousin once removed, Harland Hyder, and his old-time fiddling partner, Grady Rister. One of his final wishes was for a friend in the surveying community to continue and expand this work, an outpouring of his passion for the surveying profession.

Royce rounded out his career by serving three years with Oregon State Parks and his last 13 years with the Bureau of Land Management as a land surveyor (protest and appeals specialist) in the Western Field, Salem District, and Oregon State Offices. Surveying was a perfect career for Royce, allowing him to combine his strong technical skills with his love of history and the great outdoors.

Royce loved the outdoors, including hunting, hiking, working on his rural property in Southwest Washington and communing with nature. Throughout his life, he shared this love of nature with others, including his children, hoping to light a spark to nurture this love in those around him. Royce was also a natural born storyteller. We miss him dearly but appreciate and celebrate the stories shared by the people Royce influenced throughout his life and are thankful for the time, passion, love of the Lord, and stories he shared with us.

Please submit photos and stories you would like to share to Royce Hill’s G-Drive.

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