PAID PRINTED OBITUARY
William ‘Bill’ Hillgaertner
Aug. 31, 1939-Oct. 17, 2018
William “Bill” Hillgaertner, 79, died unexpectedly Oct. 17, 2018, with his daughter by his side in Yokohama, Japan.
Bill was born Aug. 31, 1939, in St. Louis, Mo., and moved to Witch Hazel, Ore., when he was young. Graduating Hillsboro High School at the age of 16, he embarked on his career of public service by volunteering with the Orenco Fire Department.
The United States Marine Corps offered him the chance to work with aviation (one of his long-time passions), and in 1958, he became a “Hollywood Marine,” graduating from MCRD San Diego. His advanced academic prowess caught someone’s eye, and in 1959, he was offered the chance to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. While at the Naval Academy, his ear for languages came into play – while on a mid cruise to Quebec, the ship’s captain used him as the French interpreter! He was commissioned a Marine Corps Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt) in 1963, and after spending time at MCB Quantico for TBS and Camp Lejeune as an artillery officer, plus volunteering to go to Vietnam multiple times, Bill was sent to the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey to become an interrogator/translator. He did two tours in Vietnam and then decided to leave the Marine Corps and start a family.
Although he wanted to spend time as a firefighter, Multnomah County (Ore.) convinced him to take the Sheriff’s test, where he was swiftly hired. He served time on Multnomah County River Patrol, and as a sheriff’s deputy, detective and arson investigator, before taking a leave of absence to get his Master’s of Public Administration from Lewis and Clark College. He then spent a little over a year as the Benton County (Ore.) liaison between law enforcement and the courts, before becoming the Chief of Police for Camas, in 1980. In 1989, after completing the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. (where he ran the same obstacle courses he had 25 years earlier as a 2nd Lt!), he was promoted to the Director of Public Safety for Camas, where he served as both the Police and Fire Chief. He was happy to get back to the firefighting side!
After retiring, he worked several jobs that interested him, including in pathology for Legacy Health Systems (those patients never complain!), Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Officer, and his final job as the storekeeper/mentor/unofficial counselor at United Natural Foods Incorporated in Ridgefield, Wash.