Tributes are flowing in for Edward (Ted) George Hill, better known as Ted, who sadly passed away on 20 October 2017, aged 82.
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Ted was a generous man who overcame much adversity to live a long life of helping others. Known for his love of horses, he spent 14 years volunteering for Riding for the Disabled (RDA), which provides horse-riding and carriage driving lessons to people with disabilities.
Ted Hill was one of 6 children born to George and Rhoda Hill (nee Baldwin).
Ted grew up in Rankins Springs in a pioneer style house of timber lined with hessian and newspaper and all 6 children had the one horse to share to walk the 9 miles to school. When he wasn’t at school Ted was busy doing odd jobs and trapping rabbits, he would leave school when he was 11 years old.
As a young man Ted liked to attend local dances. He would dress in his best “cowboy” shirt like the movie stars and was very popular with the ladies as he only wanted to dance rather than hold up the bar as some other young gentlemen preferred.
In his early 20s, he would become friends with Robert Burley from Griffith and would go to his house. Here he would meet Robert’s younger sister Margaret and romance blossomed. They married in Griffith when Ted was 26 years old.
During these early courtship years together, they would regularly gather with friends and attend the local footy matches to watch the Griffith Swans. Dad would talk of wolfing down six meat pies at half-time and he and Robert Burley would have competitions to see who could eat a gallon of ice-cream first before it melted.
During their early married lives they lived and worked on farms throughout the district and when their daughter Catherine was born would move to Elder Rd in Griffith.
During the 1970s, Ted and Margaret both started to work at the Griffith Public School with Margaret being a cleaner and helping in the canteen and Ted was the gardener and general assistant.
When Catherine was five years old, Ted taught her to ride a horse and she has owned one ever since. Ted also introduced her to Rodeo Gymkhanas and Ted became chief of the Rodeo Club’s BBQ. Their shared interest in horses then switched to Endurance Riding with Ted going on to earn many awards including a Distance horse of the year at one stage.
When Ted stopped riding in his sixties due to health issues, he turned his attention to RDA and became a coach. He would volunteer for over 14 years at Griffiths RDA.
Ted and Margaret would have 55 years of marriage before death separated them with Margaret passing away on September 7, 2016.
A Graveside Funeral Service was held for Ted on Monday October 30, 2017 in the Griffith Lawn Cemetery.
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