Virginia Lahiff HillVirginia Lahiff Hill, 69, of Pittsboro, passed away Oct. 22 after a four-year struggle with cancer. Born in Chicago, she was the eldest daughter of Eunice Griggs Lahiff and Bruce Harrison. Raised in Durham, she attended city schools and graduated in 1960 from St. Genevieve of the Pines in Asheville. After exploring theatre with her late husband, Joseph Alan Hill, in Los Angeles and summer stock in Estes Park, Colo., she returned to North Carolina where she started the Everyman Company street theatre in Chapel Hill. She completed a doctorate in education at UNC and taught for 27 years in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system. After her retirement, she taught in the Program in Education at Duke University for eight years. She has been active with the National Alliance on Mental Illness and served as a board member of the UNC Cancer Hospital. She is predeceased by her son, Joe Hill II. She is survived by her partner of 30 years, Beverly Brown, of Pittsboro; her daughter, Shayna Hill, and son-in-law, Don Burke, of Chapel Hill; her sister, Elaine Lahiff Malone, and brother-in-law, Dr. Patrick Malone, of Hillsborough; and by many other close family members, friends and her many students. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Inter-Faith Councel for Social Service and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The funeral service is set for Thursday, Dec. 22, at 2 p.m. at the Chapel Hill Zen Center (5322 N.C. 86, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-9572, (919) 967-0861). Josho Pat Phelan will lead the service, and guests will have an opportunity to speak if they wish. Following the funeral a reception will be held, and all guests are invited to attend.Â