Everyone's life has a story. In "Lives," we tell some of those stories about North Shore people who have died recently. "Lives" runs Mondays in The Salem News.
Fran Richards calls her friend Howard "Taffy" Hill "a legend in the town of Ipswich."
For more than 50 years, he owned and operated Hill's Department Store, an anchor of the downtown. Townspeople remember him not only for the countless pairs of shoes, blue jeans and winter coats that passed over his sales counter, but as the man with the ginger hair, warm smile and generous spirit.
The Ipswich native, who died last week at age 87, considered his role as a businessman a way to help people, said state Rep. Brad Hill, one of the four adopted children of Taffy and Ginny Hill.
He never gave a second thought to helping out those in need, giving away clothing and inventory from his store more often that people knew, said Richards, who worked in Hill's store for several years.
When an Ipswich family lost everything in a house fire, Taffy made sure they were completely outfitted with new clothes — far beyond what their insurance check would cover. From the homeless to children who needed new socks to start the school year, Taffy provided.
"He'd say, 'I'll put it on your tab.' But he never did," said Richards, chuckling. "I don't think anyone realizes how much he did to help people in town."
Once, when Brad Hill and his father were standing outside holding campaign signs, Taffy gave a pair of gloves to a person holding signs for his son's opponent.
"He was just born with that generosity," Brad Hill said. "That's just who he was. He was like that to the day he died."
Generosity is one of the many things Brian Hill said he learned from his father.
"He was a very quiet but generous person," Brian said. "He wasn't looking for recognition, he just did it from his heart."
Taffy grew up on Turkey Shore Road in Ipswich and later moved to Hamilton to raise his family. The nickname "Taffy" came either because his hair was the same color as orange saltwater taffy or because he won a 1934 freckle contest in a local newspaper — or perhaps both.
He earned the bronze star while serving in the Army Air Corps in World War II. A crew chief on a B24 bomber, Taffy flew 113 missions through hostile skies.
Besides his family, Taffy had two loves — antique cars and collecting old license plates. Above the shelves of shoes and racks of clothing, Taffy covered the walls of Hill's Department Store with license plates from far and wide.
His pride and joy, which survived a store fire in a fireproof safe, was a plate from the early 1900s with the lettering "MASS01," the first dealer plate in the United States.
His other pride and joy, Brad Hill said, was his 1913 Model T.
Fran Richards said she and her husband, Ken, made countless trips with Taffy and Ginny Hill to old car club gatherings and antiques shops, searching for old car parts or license plates.
Taffy had a great sense of humor, Richards said, and sometimes he would have to pull over because he was laughing so hard.
"We have some fantastic memories," Richards said. "(Taffy) loved people, loved having a good time. ... I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad word about Taffy."
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