Submitted by: Dan Rich

Brother Richard Louis Hillis, CSC

July 11, 1936 - Sept. 8, 2007

South Bend Tribune 9/10/2007
SOUTH BEND - Brother Richard Louis Hillis, CSC, 71, died in St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI, on September 8, of injuries sustained in a bicycle accident. Br. Richard was born in Grand Rapids, MI, on July 11, 1936, the son of Louis and Josephine (Goense) Hillis, and it was in that city he received his grade and high school education. He graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1955, having participated in several activities, including the National Guard. He engaged during his high school years in sales and construction work for the Grand Rapids Press, the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., and Taylor Builders of Rockford, MI. In September 1955 Br. Richard joined the Brothers of Holy Cross, receiving their habit and beginning the novitiate year in January 1956, then pronouncing his first vows in January 1957. In August 1961, he committed himself through perpetual vows to lifelong membership as a brother in Holy Cross. Completing his novitiate, Br. Richard spent the next four years as a cook in community houses in Watertown, WI, Rolling Prairie, IN, and Columba Hall, Notre Dame, IN. From 1962 to 1964, he worked in the post office at Notre Dame, then transferred to grounds care at Gilmour Academy, the brothers' secondary boarding prep school located in Gates Mills, OH, on Cleveland's east side. Br. Richard took advantage of the benefits of a religious renewal program at Notre Dame from 1987-88, following which he spent the next eight years doing general maintenance work at he Holy Cross Brothers Center, Notre Dame.

From 1996 to 98 he was director of housekeeping at the brother's infirmary, Dujarie House, and assisted living program, Schubert Villa, both facilities at Holy Cross Village, Notre Dame. He was asked to take on a significant role in the Boysville of Michigan youth treatment program (now known as Holy Cross Children's Services, Clinton, MI), living at the Macon campus of Boysville but commuting daily some 60 miles into Detroit to a branch of the school's overall program. That commute was symbolic of Br. Richard's loyalty and personal dedication of his abilities and strength to whatever services he was engaged in, whether in a kitchen or a counseling situation. Day in, day out, summer and winter in Southeastern Michigan's uncertain weather and road conditions, Br. Richard made the 60-mile trip to Detroit to perform the functions, both administrative and personal, for the youth to whom he ministered. To those with whom he worked, the word "dependable" seems to describe him most accurately, a word that encompasses all the nuances attached to the quality, including unusual patience and preserving under difficult circumstances. If Br. Richard was not a classroom teacher as were many of his confreres, he was nevertheless a master educator in life through his unfailingly excellent example. He enjoyed swimming and had earned a master Life Saver certificate in 1965. He and other associates had formed an informal swimming club in nearby Tecumseh, MI, a physical exercise opportunity and gathering that fairly regularly spilled over into the pleasant social ambience of nearby restaurants. The very sport that in the end took his life was one of his favorite physical activities. His smile, his dependability, his sacrificial presence despite distance and conditions will be missed, but will remain in the memories of his brothers in Holy Cross, as well as his co-workers at Holy Cross Children's Services. What is more, these characteristics will fix themselves even more in their hearts, clearly influencing their own service to others.

Visitation will begin at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 11 in Our Lady of Holy Cross chapel, Schubert Villa, the brother's Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame, 54515 St. Road, 933 North. A wake service will be held in that chapel at 11:15 a.m. Later that day, Tuesday the 11th, viewing will begin at 2 p.m. in St. Joseph's Chapel in the Holy Cross Village. The Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 3 p.m. with interment immediately afterward in St. Joseph's Cemetery on the village grounds.