John Levi Hilton, 72, unexpectedly passed away of cardiac arrest, March 12, 2000, in Provo, Utah.
He was born May 25, 1927 in Woodruff, Arizona, the sixth of eight children to Eugene and Ruth Naomi Hilton. He grew up in Oakland, California, joined the United States Navy during World War II, and served a full-time mission for the Church in Brazil.He was married to Ruth Janet Fenn, August 7, 1950, in the Mesa Arizona Temple. He received a bachelors of science degree from BYU in physics and spent much of his professional career in high energy physics research. Among many professional accomplishments, he pioneered the use of neutron radiation in cancer therapy. He has spent the last eleven years of his life as an adjunct professor in the statistics department at BYU doing research in word pattern/authorship associations. He served extensively within the church, serving as scoutmaster, gospel doctrine teacher, in several bishopric and high councils, as bishop, as branch president of an Oakland California Cambodian refugee branch, and in a Branch presidency at the MTC. For 19 years he served on the school board of the Walnut Creek California School District, and much of that time as president. He was an enthusiastic backpacker, outdoorsman and conservationist. In later years he became an avid bird watcher. His most enduring a vocational pursuit, however, involved studying the Book of Mormon. He spent a lifetime studying the geography, history, and authorship of the Book of Mormon. For him this research only served to confirm his unwavering spiritual witness of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the veracity of its doctrines.
He is survived by his wife Jan; his sister and four brothers; his children: Lee (Shawna), Courtland (Vicki), Matthew (Janet), Christine (Peter) Anderson, Kimberly (Jim) Cope, Lynne (Dow) Wilson, Janet (Joseph) Hales, Ann (David) Henstrom and foster daughter Zetia (Roger) Bradley; and 43 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on March 16, 2000 at 12 noon at the Stadium Avenue Chapel, 650 Stadium Ave., with interment to follow at East Lawn Memorial Hills. The family will receive visitors Wednesday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Berg Mortuary, 185 East Center Street, Provo and 11 to 11:45 at the chapel.