George « Billy » Hill passed from earth up into the stars on the 24th of May 2024, at the Royal Victoria Hospital, his partner, Lorraine by his side.
Born George Hill on July 18, 1946, in Montreal, he was the brother of three loving sisters, Dorothy, Judy and Donna. The four siblings had a close bond that defined family love. Eventually, Billy grew to a lean stature of 6’5″ and his sisters then looked up to him, literally and figuratively, for he was also big of heart.
As an adult, throughout the years, George’s technical skills were boundless. Anyone who might drop by his apartment would be thrust into a space-time, only a technician could comprehend. His soldering iron was his pen. George’s self-taught skills gave birth to an existential, whimsical sense of George-humour; his love of Science Fiction reflected onto his construction of robots.
When day melted into night, the kitchen walls blossomed into LED art, a cool space where robots might want to hang out.
Publicly, at the Concordia Art Hives, George was known as a multi-media artist, an unassuming community leader, who dropped by once a week over a period of ten years. How he was a delight to watch! He cherished each person, and each person cherished him.
Few communities knew of each other; he took care of the latchkey kids around the buildings, and the kids had no idea that George had founded a Computer Café for the NDG Anti-Poverty Group, while Epilepsy Montreal of The Montreal Neurological Institute was unaware that he had fashioned a « Small Town USA » type site called « SomerledNDG ».
Billy is survived by his partner Lorraine, his sisters Dorothy, Judy, and Donna (Art), as well as his many nieces and nephews, and extended family. He loved Hugh and Lois, kind and gentle souls. Janis Timm-Botos, his hero, the founder of the Concordia Art Hives so misses him, as do his neighbours, friends, and communities. And Momo.
George « Billy », Our hearts are broken.
Since there won’t be a service, we could smile and take a moment in an act of kindness, to Billy George’s memory.
He is now our universe.
