By JAN GRIFFEY/Editor

COLUMBIANA — Former long-time and beloved Shelby County Schools superintendent, Elvin Hill, 94, has died.

His son, State Rep. Mike Hill, R-Columbiana, said Elvin Hill died peacefully this morning.

“He had such a wonderful quality of life until about three months ago,” Mike Hill said. “He ended up about the last three days tired of it, ready to go. We all realized among ourselves it was time to let this thing happen and it was peaceful. Hospice came in and helped. He didn’t suffer. It was good.”

Elvin Hill was a teacher, principal and school superintendent for about 40 years.

“He was here at the beginning of the growth of Shelby County and carried Shelby County Schools from a rural to a more suburban school system. And then he carried it through the integration years, which was tough everywhere, except in Shelby County. Because of his demeanor and his general love for everybody, he got us through that almost without incident,” Mike Hill said.

Evan Major, a former Shelby County School superintendent, said this morning Elvin Hill’s death is a great loss to the community, but his life is one to be celebrated.

“He was a great leader in this community. He not only meant a lot to me, he meant so much to all of us,” Major said. “He was my very first superintendent when I came to Shelby County to be a teacher in 1966 and he certainly was a tremendous influence on me.”

Elvin Hill was also “a great civic leader. He was a founding member of the Kiwanis Club and helped develop the Shelby County Fair. For many years, he was very instrumental in leadership of the Kiwanis Club and the Shelby County Fair Association and that alone provided opportunities through scholarship and donations to children’s causes for a lot of years,” Major said. “You search for the right words to say at a time like this. He was a great man and so we should celebrate a long and beautiful life.”

Elvin Hill and his wife, Wylodine, who preceded him in death about eight years ago, were the parents of four children: daughters Nancy Indorf and Peg Hill and sons Mike Hill and Jeff Hill.

Bolton Funeral Home in Columbiana is in charge of arrangements. Funeral services are Monday at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Columbiana.