Laura M. Hill

Berlin – Laura M. Perez Hill gently entered into eternal rest on Thursday, April 5, 2012, at her home in Berlin, NY. Born in Guanica, Puerto Rico, on November 10, 1929, Laura was the daughter of Eduardo Perez Seda and Maria Acosta. She attended elementary and high school in Guanica and earned a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education from the University of Puerto Rico in 1952.
She married her husband, Lionel Johns Hill, “the handsome gringo,” on December 11, 1955, in Puerto Rico. The couple returned to Berlin in 1958 where they remained for the rest of their years together.
Laura was a public school teacher for over 50 years. She substituted in the Berlin School while her family was young, and she especially enjoyed teaching the Spanish language to WW II and Korean War veterans in adult night school in Berlin. She began teaching full time in Petersburgh, NY, teaching grades three, four and five in one classroom.
While teaching full time and raising a family, she earned another Bachelor’s degree, from Russell Sage College, and completed course work for a Master’s Degree. After the centralization of the Berlin School District, Laura obtained a position in the New Lebanon Central School District, first at the old East Nassau School and then at Walter B. Howard Elementary School, teaching fourth grade for 27 years, retiring in 1994. In retirement she returned to substitute teaching in Berlin, leaving teaching only because of failing health. Laura was also a partner in the L & L Corner Store in Berlin for 17 years. She enjoyed traveling with her husband, including cruises to the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Alaska, and spending time with her family.
Survivors include her two daughters, Laurie Elting of Cohoes, NY, and Sandi Slattery and her husband Ed of Berlin, her three adored grandchildren, Molly Slattery of Houston, TX, James “Jake” Slattery of Berlin and Cornelius “Ryan” Slattery of Watervliet, NY, and the particular delights of her life, great-grandchildren Roark and Cosette Slattery of Berlin and Kiara Slattery of Pocahontas, IL. Laura also leaves a sister, Milagros Perez, and a brother, Loui Rodriquez, in Puerto Rico and many loving nieces, nephews and their families along with her extended family of caregivers, Donna, Tammy, Dawn, Josie, Arlene and Retta. She also leaves behind special friends, Mark and Kathy Primeau. Her devoted companion, Boston, remained her faithful guardian until the moment she joined the angels.
Laura is pre-deceased by her husband of 53 years, Lionel, who died on December 30, 2007, her sisters, Esther, Rose, Edi and Haydee, and a brother, Eduardo.
A Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial was celebrated by Rev. Kenneth Gregory on Thursday, April 12, at 10 am in the Our Lady of the Snow Catholic Church (Sacred Heart Parish), 27 North Main Street, Berlin. Burial followed in the Berlin Community Cemetery
Relatives and friends were invited to visitation at the Thomas M. Barber Funeral Home, 66 Armsby Road, Petersburgh, on Wednesday from 4 to 7 pm.
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to remember Laura’s legacy are asked by the family to make a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation or the Delta Kappa Gamma Scholarship Fund in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 361, Petersburgh, NY, 12138.