Accountant admired for his work ethic
9/17/2005Theodore I. Hill, an accountant and financial adviser who underwent a pioneering form of cancer therapy that allowed him to return to work, died Thursday, his 49th birthday, at his mother s Waverly Avenue home from complications of kidney cancer.
Under the care of Dr. Walter Quan, Mr. Hill received treatments of an immune system chemical called Interleukin-2, used to prolong the lives of people who have cancer that is unresponsive to chemotherapy or radiation.
The treatments caused brutal side effects from nausea and vomiting to peeling skin and Mr. Hill felt weaker for a time, his mother, Ruby Hill, said.
Then he would feel energized and want to work, Mrs. Hill said.
He even was able to return to lifting weights.
When it s time for me to have a treatment, he told The Blade in January, I look forward to it. I don t dread it. I know this is my road to get well.
By his first meeting with Dr. Quan, he d had a cancerous kidney removed in 2003 and, in July, 2004, found out that cancer had spread to his lungs. He was concerned too about his wife, Mary, who had a lung removed because of cancer.
Dr. Quan was very attentive and very supportive. He was always there for Ted, his mother said.
He lived with his wife on Glenmere Way until several months ago. Most recently, he lived in his childhood home.
Mr. Hill was a graduate of the former DeVilbiss High School, where he played football and basketball. Later, he worked at Surface Combustion Inc. He joined the Air Force and was a technical sergeant.
He received a bachelor s degree from the University of Toledo and became a self-employed accountant. He prepared taxes and offered financial advice for individual clients.
He had an eye for detail and held an overall attitude about doing things right, his brother Glandoy said.
He was a member of Braden United Methodist Church. Family members and young people in the community considered him a mentor.
Surviving are his wife, Mary; sons, Dejuan, Theodore, Jr., and Markus Hill and DeRone Williams; daughter, LaToya Hill; parents, Glandoy and Ruby Hill; brothers, Glandoy, Jr., Wilbur, and Wilson Hill, and two grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the C. Brown Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Braden United Methodist Church, preceded by a wake service at 10 a.m.
The family suggests tributes to the Alzheimer s Association or the American Cancer Society.