Last year, the Hills lost their teenaged grandson, Eric Hill of Loganville, in an accidental drowning. The young man had spent a lot of time with his grandparents, often attending church with them at Bethel Church on Highway 29. Many locals knew him and were saddened by the tragedy.
Eric Hill’s father, Mark Hill, grew up here and attended Troup High School. Since his son’s death, he said, the family has focused on remembering his special qualities and the achievements that marked his life, not the difficult circumstances of his death while swimming in a rock quarry on June 10.
Toward that end, friends at Loganville High School recently organized the Eric Hill Memorial wrestling tournament, a lively event with more than 20 teams participating. Eric Hill had been a dedicated member of his high school wrestling team, even giving up football to focus on the sport. He made varsity as a freshman and was region champion in his weight class three years running. He placed fourth in AAAA at state his senior year, despite a torn ACL.
He had reached 100 wins in his junior year, was honored with many other wrestling awards such as “rookie of the year”, team MVP and was a 2007 “All County” wrestler.
Eric Hill worked hard to overcome the knee injury, his father said, and wrestled for Gordon College the very next year. He won one of his college tournaments and placed in the top three in two others. His grades were good enough to put him in line for a scholarship for his sophomore year. He was active in church and Bible study.
At the awards ceremony concluding the memorial tournament, Eric Hill’s former teammates called his dad to the podium and presented him with their medals and the team trophy.
“It was a very special tournament and one that I will never forget. It was a great honor to the memory of my son,” he said.
And so, we salute the memory of Eric Hill - and the caring friends and family who have made sure he is appropriately and positively remembered.
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