Kim Hill; inspired McDonald House
LOS ANGELES - Kim Hill, 44, whose childhood battle with leukemia was the catalyst for the creation of the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia in 1974, died Saturday at a hospital in Orange, Calif., her father, Fred Hill, said.
LOS ANGELES - Kim Hill, 44, whose childhood battle with leukemia was the catalyst for the creation of the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia in 1974, died Saturday at a hospital in Orange, Calif., her father, Fred Hill, said.
Radiation treatments to overcome leukemia as a child had caused the formation of brain tumors as an adult, he said.
Fred Hill was a tight end for the Eagles in 1969, when he and his wife, Fran, learned that 3-year-old Kim had acute lymphatic leukemia.
"The doctor started crying when he told us," Hill recalled. "He said kids don't usually live with this type of leukemia for more than six months. We were devastated."
Kim defied the odds.
In 1971, two years into their daughter's treatment, the Hills helped organize a fund-raising fashion show in which the wives of Eagles team members modeled fur coats. They raised $10,000 for the Leukemia Society of America.
"Owner Leonard Tose was the last guy to leave," recalled Hill. "He said: 'I want you to come back next year and make 10 times that amount. I'm going to give you Veterans Stadium to use if you need it, the football team - whatever you want.' "
Hill and his neighbor Stan Lane formed a nonprofit organization called Eagles Fly for Leukemia.
At Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, they found Dr. Audrey Evans, whose long wish list included purchasing a house near the hospital that would provide temporary lodging for the families of young cancer patients.
After Eagles Fly for Leukemia raised $125,000 the next year, Eagles general manager Jim Murray arranged with local McDonald's franchise owners to have the team's quarterback, Roman Gabriel, promote its St. Patrick's Day shamrock shake in exchange for a share of the profits being donated to the purchase of a house for patients' families.
By the time the first Ronald McDonald House opened in Philadelphia in 1974, the Hills had moved to California.
Today, there are 302 Ronald McDonald Houses serving families in 30 countries and regions.
After the family moved to San Juan Capistrano, Calif., in 1977, Ms. Hill rode horses with her two sisters. And she sang in the choir and ran cross-country in high school.
After graduating in 1984, she studied cosmetology. In 1991, a CT scan revealed she had two tumors between her brain and her skull.