Eric Hill, 73, a 19-year resident of Iowa, died peacefully at Mercy Hospital Hospice after having suffered from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Eric served in the U.S. Army for eight years and was stationed at multiple places in the U.S., but also served in Turkey, Okinawa and Germany where he met his wife of 49 years, Sylvia, and where their first son, Padriac, was born. Their second son, Kendall, was born at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, Eric's last duty station.
Eric was retired after having worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration for 20 years. Prior to working for DEA, he had a career as a deep-sea diver, mainly diving for oil companies not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but also in the South China Sea and the Arabian Gulf. The career in diving meant living in places like Arabia, Singapore, Brunei, (on the island of Borneo) and the Philippines. His family was able to accompany him to most of these places and his daughter, Karin, was actually born in Brunei.
Eric was a life-long avid bridge player and enjoyed playing regularly at the Bridge Center in Urbandale where he was a popular partner for multiple players. He also enjoyed playing pinochle with family whenever the chance presented itself. Eric's other hobbies included reading, travel, stamp collecting and leather working.
Eric was also somewhat of a chef, mainly self-taught, and enjoyed making all sorts of wonderful dishes for friends and family. He immensely enjoyed reading and kept adding to his collection of books as he felt one could never have too many books.
Eric is preceded in death by his father, Ellis Dixon Hill, his mother, Clara Elizabeth Hill and his eldest son, Padriac.
Eric is survived by his wife, Sylvia, his son, Kendall, daughter, Karin, his brother, Jeff and sister-in-law, Grace of Oklahoma, his sister, Nancy of Kentucky, his brother Tom, and sister-in-law, Pam of Virginia and his brother, Tim, and sister-in-law, Miriam of Canada as well as seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
