Royce Hillman (Plainview)

The Lord welcomed Royce Ezekiel Hillman into his loving arms on March 29, 2014. Services will be held at First Baptist Church of Plainview at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1, 2014 with Dr. Tim Marrow and Rev. Gene Hawkins officiating. Interment will follow in Parklawn Memorial Gardens under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Plainview. Royce was born May 19, 1920, in Clarendon to W. R. and Annie Hillman and spent most of his boyhood in the Valley View Community in Bailey County.   He graduated from Plainview High School in 1937 and enlisted in the United States Army in November 1939. After training at Fort Bliss and Fort Benning, Hillman sailed for the European Theater with the 2nd Armored Division in October 1942. A member of the 142nd Armored Signal Company, Royce served in North Africa, Sicily, England, France, Belgium, and Germany. His unit landed on Omaha Beach four days plus D-Day and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Hillman was discharged at Fort Bliss in June 1945 with the rank of staff sergeant. Following World War II, Royce worked for the Cass County Rural Electrification Association and married Maggie Inez Wilcox on May 14, 1949. In 1953, he returned to West Texas and was an award-winning farmer in Floyd, Swisher, and Hale Counties for over 40 years. Hillman was ordained a deacon at First Baptist Church of Lockney and also served as a deacon at First Baptist Plainview. Royce enjoyed fishing, traveling in his motor home, coffee with friends, a competitive game of dominoes, and especially the love and attention of wife, children, and grandchildren. Hillman was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Herbert, Jack, Ray, and Earl; sisters Nancy “Midge” Fielder, Ruth Sloan, Gene Lambert, and Evelyn Byrd; and grandchildren Elizabeth Dorrity and 2nd Lt. Patrick Wayland, USMC. Survivors include his wife Inez; son John and wife Kathy; daughters Carole Hillman Wayland and husband David, and Kay Hillman Littlefield; grandchildren Marshall and Michael Hillman, Holly Hillman Smith, Meagan and Lisa Kay Wayland, Katy Dorrity Christy, and Clayton and Jacob Dorrity; and five great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to First Baptist Church or the Retired Senior Volunteers Program of Plainview. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1