Obituary
Robert William (Bob) Hilton
Robert William (Bob) Hilton claimed his heavenly reward on July 21, 2021 at 91 years of age. He was a kind and gentle man with a dry sense of humor who always had time to teach his skills and good morals to his kids and grandkids. He left an enduring impact that will echo for generations through his family.
Bob was born on August 25, 1929 in Galesville, the middle of three children born to Price and Edith (Perring) Hilton. He and his siblings worked the family farm, where they learned the value of hard work, respect, honesty, and a commitment to family that would carry through a lifetime. Except for his last few months spent at the Pigeon Falls Healthcare Center, Bob lived his 91+ years on the Hilton’s Century Farm. The farm was orginally purchased by his grandparents, William Price and Mary Hilton in 1919, where the 3 generations would live and work together.
Bob graduated with the Galesville High School class of 1947. In high school, he was active in FFA and basketball. He lived life on a steady routine of: chores at 6am, breakfast at 7am, coffee at 10am, dinner at noon, lunch at 3pm, supper at 6pm, work outside until 9:30pm, to bed at 10pm. This routine, won him the vote for the youngest looking at a class reunion and never waivering much from his weight at high school graduation! At age 17, he started driving for his father’s business, Hilton Trucking. Along with hauling peas, lima beans and sweet corn for the canning factories, he had a milk route through the Hardies Creek area that stopped at about 20 farms to pick up milk cans and deliver them to the Galesville Creamery. We recently heard from a fellow driver, Mr. Weir of Centerville, that he was so thankful for Bob when he had a milk can route & his truck had broke down. He told Bob about it and Bob said “If you help me get my route done first, we can take my truck and I will help you get your route done.” Bob was always doing things like that to help others.
On June 3, 1950 Bob married Mary Jane Abel, the love of his life. She was the cute gal he met on his milk route who had recently moved to the country from the big city of LaCrosse! Bob’s quiet nature and patient demeanor was sparked by the lively and beautiful girl from the city. Together for 71 years, they built a wonderful life with a shared purpose of hard work and unwavering love and committment in raising a strong family of 3. Somewhere in between child #2 and #3, they also took in Mary Jane’s 2 nephews and a niece for 3 years. One nephew was deaf, so in order to give him a better education, Bob and Mary Jane helped start a school for the deaf in LaCrosse.
The milk route and truck driving experience gave Bob a good reputation as a driver. He was an on-call semi driver for Jewel Tea when Windy Ekern was on vacation. Bob delivered to distributors in the twin cities staying overnight in Minneapolis. He drove for Service when it was under the bridge in LaCrosse. He put on many miles in the blue cabover Freightliner for the Smith Brothers with their Goebel Freightlines business in Onalaska, which involved hauling Old Style beer from Heilemann’s in LaCrosse to distributors in Chicago, Indiana and Milwaukee. Bob hauled cattle for George Hermann of Onalaska, for the Midwest Feeder Pig Co-op and Bortle of Centerville. He was also a semi driver delivering house boats to New York, Califonia and the Gulf of Mexico. Bob would recall one incident hauling a large houseboat where he had to stop and let the air out of the trailer tires to get the big rig under a bridge! He always wished he would have kept track of his driving miles. We were quite sure he would have made it into the million mile club.
Bob and his brother-in-law Richard Abel started Hilton and Abel Excavating in 1970. The business later became Hilton Excavating and Plumbing when Richard Abel sold his share to Bob’s son, Richard Hilton when he became a master plumber. Bob dug many basements for homes in Galesville and the surrounding area. There’s talk he could visually get the grade to within a quarter inch without the old manual transit and stick. With Bob’s big heart, he gave countless hours of volunteer time and
construction work to worthwhile causes in the community he loved & in which he worked. He had a genuine desire to lend a helping hand where he could. Most appreciated this while others sadly took advantage of it. He gave of his time to be a trustee and sing in the choir at the Presbyterian Church. He would also help out at the Trempealeau County Fair as his dad did before him.
When Bob wasn’t driving trucks he was home doing his other job, Farming. Although trucking would have been his first choice, it wasn’t meant to be. He milked cows, grew hay, corn and soy beans as well as lima beans for the canning company. One year he even had the highest yield of soy beans the grain elevator had seen that season. He was quite surprised of that accomplishment as growing crops wasn’t his first love and not something he pursued with intensity. He knew Mother Nature better than many and would even enjoy her bounty by taking the time to stop cutting hay when he spotted blackcaps along the fence line.
While working and raising a family, Bob’s passion for old tractors, trucks and gas engines was always there. Once in a while he would get away and go to a tractor show for the day. Over the years he gathered quite a collection of old Case tractors from around the United States and Canada that he planned to work on when he retired. However, when your lifestyle and hobbies are both work, it doesn’t leave much time to retire or restore tractors! He did faithfully crank over the engines and rotate the tires over the years, with good intentions.
For 18 years Bob and Mary Jane packed up and traveled to their home in Texas to escape winter for a few months. The kids never thought it possible for either of them to leave the farm for very long or buy a home so far away! They met a lot of wonderful people and enjoyed sitting on the porch at “coffee time” or “lunch time” and sharing their coffee and a piece of cake or a cookie with others over conversation. Bob still picked up working where he left off when he got back home, but it was nice to see him get away for some well earned rest and relaxation.
Bob was the apple of our eye and we know the feeling was mutual. Even though he never said it, we had no doubt we were well loved and that he would always do anything he could to make sure we were taken care of. He was a gentle soul. We miss him so much and will always love him.
Bob is survived by his wife of 71 years Mary Jane Hilton; children Richard (Cathy) Hilton, Janet (Richard) Hilton-Koepke and Jane (John) Pietenpol: 4 grandchildren: Will (Liz) Hilton, Jen (Brian) Parsons, Lauren Koepke and Hannah Koepke; 4 great-granchildren Ashlyn, Evan, Elanore and Abel; a sister-in-law Peggy Hilton and brothers-in-law Richard Abel and Robert Abel. He was preceded in death by his parents, Price and Edith Hilton, a sister Phyllis Edwall, a brother Wendell Hilton and a brother-in-law Robert Edwall.
The family sends a warm thank you to the caring and conscientious staff at Pigeon Falls Healthcare Center. We truly appreciate everything. Bob will be laid to rest with a private service at High Cliff Cemetery in Galesville. Family and friends may call at the farm, for “lunch time at 3pm” (until 5pm) to celebrate Bob’s life on what would have been his 92nd birthday.
Mary and family—I have so many great memories of being with all of you and Bud at the farm. Hope to see you the 25th!!