Hope Avarell Hilton, age 75, died October 26, 1999 in Salt Lake City, from causes of diabetes and palsy.
Hope was born August 15, 1924 in Long Beach, CA as a daughter of Hugo Joseph Averell and Annalee Kohlhepp. She was raised in San Pedro, CA. Always an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She taught the youth of the church for 25 consecutive years. She served a mission to the central states after graduating from the University of California at Berkley with a BA degree in history in 1946. She was a ward Relief Society President in Chicago.After her mission, she moved to Utah in 1948 to attend the University of Utah. She married Lynn M. Hilton in the Salt Lake Temple Dec 17, 1948. She was the mother of five children, the youngest passing away at an early age, allowing her to raise three daughters and one son to maturity. She was always proud of the academic accomplishments of her four children who graduated from Utah schools with honors.
Many regarded her as intelligent, well educated, articulate, forceful, full of faith, philanthropic, a world traveler, author, a great preacher, who was against smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol. She loved the fine arts and was a great sports fan. She channeled her love of history and cultures to the Middle East people, and spent many weeks in Lebanon, Jordan and Jerusalem, with her Arab friends. She spoke Arabic, and learned the art of Arabic cooking. She became noted as an expert Arabic cook.
She lived with her husband in Egypt for four years and Saudi Arabia for seven years. Over the years, 10 students from the Middle East, lived in the Hilton home. Most were helped by the Middle East Foundation, a charity begun by the Hiltons in 1968, which assisted 125 students through college over the years.
Hope and her husband traveled over the world several times, between 1961 and 1988. In 1975 the "Ensign" magazine asked them to research the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi, from Jerusalem to Bountiful. This proved to be the highlight of her life and she always enjoyed talking about this unique adventure which was recorded in two books.
Hope was the great-granddaughter of territorial pioneer lawman William Adams Hickman. She spent the last 20 years of her life following his trail through Missouri, Utah and Wyoming. This also ended in a book, "Wild Bill Hickman and the Mormon Frontier". She is author of 68 additional manuscripts and titles. She was a prolific letter writer to hundreds through the years.
She believed in community service and was a trustee in the Sugar House Community Council for many years, serving also as a volunteer at the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers museum, Travelers Aid, and in the Women's Republican Club of Salt Lake City. Her special projects were city parks and park improvement, including the monument to the territorial prison erected in 1988 in Sugar House Park.
She is survived by her husband Lynn; her four children: Cynthia (Vic) Bowman of Arlington, VA; Polly (Mike) Richardson of Seattle, WA; Sheree (Blaine) Andersen of Logan, Utah; and Ralph (Barbara) Hilton of St. George, Utah; and 14 grandchildren.
Hope's funeral will be 11 a.m. Monday, November 1, in the LDS Edgehill Second Ward Chapel, 1889 South 1700 East Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. There is a viewing one hour before. Also a previous day viewing on Sunday October 31, 6 to 8 p.m. at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple St, Salt Lake City. Internment will be at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.