Obituary of John Miller Hill

1937 - 2024

42 Year Resident of Santa Cruz County

John Miller Hill was born in 1937 to John “Jack” Hill Senior, and Grace Hoyt Hill in St. Paul, MN.  On his own merit, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy prep school and Princeton University.  After years in New England and abroad, John settled in the Santa Cruz area with his family in 1982, where he continued to work as a recognized leader in the material handling and supply chain industry. 

John was a pioneering officer of automatic data collection, material handling and supply chain systems firms with over 100 successful AIDC (bar code, radio frequency identification), material handling equipment and warehouse, and labor and transportation management information systems deployments. 

John was a former president of the Material Handling Institute (MHI), member of its Board of Governors and an emeritus member of MHI’s Advisory Roundtable.  He was recipient of MHI’s 1997 Norman L. Cahners and 2004 Reed-Apple awards as well as AIM’s 2014 Allan Gilligan and 2018 Dilling awards for contributions to the U.S. material handling and AIDC marketplaces.  Known for his oratory skills, he gave over 350 seminars and presentations for academia, corporate clients, professional and trade associations in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia.   Serving as a faculty member at Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain and Logistics Institute brought him great joy and satisfaction.

John’s youth was filled with hockey and soccer, having played both while at Exeter and Princeton.   When he was done playing at the top of his game, he taught his girls and went on to coach – taking his eldest’s 11-year-old soccer team to Division Champs.  Golf became his ultimate obsession and consumed much of his free time for many decades.   He loved the game and the people with whom he played. 

John is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara Doran. He was a loving father to Jen (Lori) and Sarah (Peter), grandfather to Madison (Rico), Riley, Sawyer, and Miles, and great grandfather to Lily. 

John was predeceased by parents Jack and Grace, brother Bob, first wife Maggie McNamara, and daughter Katie. John died peacefully surrounded by family on April 15, 2024.  He is deeply loved and will be greatly missed.

Services to be held at 11am on Friday, April 19 at Resurrection Catholic Church in Aptos; reception to directly follow at the adjacent Seacliff Inn. 

The family requests that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to MHI’s Material Handling Industry’s Education Foundation, Inc. (MHEFI), to the John Hill Scholarship Fund.