Janis Hill, former Eagles cheerleader

Janis Hill, 52, of Woolwich Township, a former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader and a breast cancer survivor and advocate, died Thursday, Jan. 20, at Pennsylvania Hospital following surgery to remove two brain tumors.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, Mrs. Hill became involved with the Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Described by Komen Philadelphia chapter executive director Elaine Grobman as compassionate, kind, and bright, Mrs. Hill volunteered her time to various Komen for the Cure events, including the survivors march.

One of her most significant contributions was a recent video montage uploaded on YouTube of 136 former Eagles cheerleaders performing together at Central High School in Philadelphia.

"She was instrumental in putting this project together," Grobman said. Mrs. Hill worked mostly behind the scenes during the September video shoot.

Mrs. Hill and a few other members of the Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Team Ra-Ras, which consists of NFL Alumni Philadelphia Chapter Cheerleaders, coordinated the YouTube video fund-raiser.

For every hit the video gets on YouTube, UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania donates money to the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate. Following the first million hits, UnitedHealthcare donated $100,000. An additional $50,000 will be donated when the video hits the 5 million mark, Grobman said.

"Even as she battled her own [breast] cancer, she always had time to look to the future," Grobman said. "She wanted to be part of the cure."

Janis Moore was born in Camden and raised in Swedesboro, graduating from Kingsway Regional High School in Woolwich Township in 1977.

While studying at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in the early 1980s, she met Vincent Hill. He was a judge and she a contestant in the 1980 Miss Cheyney Pageant.

That same year, she landed a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles Liberty Belles, the Eagles' cheerleading squad at that time. She went to the Super Bowl in 1981, where the Eagles lost to the Oakland Raiders.

She married Hill in 1983, a year after she graduated from Cheyney with a bachelor's degree in English. Mrs. Hill took a break from cheerleading and returned to the squad in 1985 for a year.

Starting with Macy's in the late 1980s and then moving on to Vanguard, Mrs. Hill worked in the human resources divisions of several companies in the region.

Her most recent job was as human resources manager at EMD Chemicals in Gibbstown, her husband said.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Hill is survived by sons Jordan and Tyler; her mother, Lillian Moore; and two sisters.

A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 28, at First Baptist Church, 700 Auburn Ave., Swedesboro.

Interment will be in Gates of Heaven cemetery, Mount Royal.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, 125 S. Ninth St., Suite 202, Philadelphia 19107.