SAVANNAH – George Burkhart Hills, Jr., 90, died March 18, 2016 surrounded by his wife and children. George was born July 17, 1925 in Jacksonville, Florida, the third of five children of George Burkhart Hills and Anna McEnerny Hills. President of his class, he graduated from Robert E. Lee High School and was selected for the V-12 program at Georgia Tech where he played football in the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl, was all-SEC in track and field, and was president of his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta. Graduating in mechanical engineering, George turned down a position with the Green Bay Packers to fulfill his military obligation. After serving in the Navy through the end of World War II, George married Sarah Anne Davis, whom he met in high school, and completed his Master’s in chemical engineering as well as industrial engineering at the University of Florida. George had a long career as an executive in the paper industry, which sent him to the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Accepting positions in senior management with MacMillan-Bloedell, Continental Can, and Stone Container, he directed sixty-five corrugated box plants and then seventeen paper mills. George and his family lived in Canada, including Vancouver and Winnipeg, and the U.S., including Lake Forest, Illinois and New Canaan, Connecticut. Throughout his life, George was a leader in civic, community, and church work, including serving on the Board of Trustees at Georgia Tech and a manager for the Grey Cup Champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. George retired with his wife Sarah Anne to the Landings in Savannah in 1989, where he continued his hobbies of sailing and hiking as well as involvement in many charities and church work. George was the driving force behind the founding of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Skidaway Island and was actively involved in the construction of the church building. George traveled extensively in Europe, South America, Australia, and New Zealand with his wife Sarah Anne, and they enjoyed spending the summer months with their children and grandchildren at their home in the mountains near Brevard, North Carolina where he was active in church, charity, and community affairs including the fishing club and bocce league.

George is survived by his wife, Sarah Anne, and by his five children and seven grandchildren: George Burkhart Hills III of Atlanta; Barrett Davis Hills of Vancouver, Canada; Sarah Hills McLaughlin and her husband William McLaughlin, M.D., of Dothan, Alabama and their children: William Davis, Sarah Anne and her husband Colin Brewer, George Burkhart, and Mary Elizabeth; Margaret Nowicki Hills of Atlanta and her son Matthew; Harland Andrew Hills and his wife Rhonda, of Atlanta and their children: Charlton and Marin.

The funeral will be at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Skidaway Island, Savannah on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 11:00 am followed by interment in the church Memorial Garden. The family will receive friends at a reception afterwards in the parish building.

Remembrances may be made to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 3 West Ridge Road, Savannah, GA 31411.

Fox & Weeks Hodgson Chapel