Jack S. Hill (July 15, 1944 – April 6, 2020) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

's 4th District in the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia Ho ...

. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving Georgia State Senator.

Personal

Jack Hill was born in Reidsville, Georgia. He was a retired grocer and his wife, Ruth Ann, was an elementary school principal. Together, they had three children and seven grandchildren. Hill was a graduate of

Reidsville High School Reidsville High School is a public high school located in Reidsville, North Carolina, serving students in the ninth through twelfth grade. It is in the Rockingham County Schools school district. History Reidsville High School was established i ...

and

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hi ...

. He served in the

Georgia Air National Guard The Georgia Air National Guard (GA ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Georgia, United States of America. It is, along with the Georgia Army National Guard, an element of the Georgia National Guard. As state militia units, the units in ...

for 33 years, both as a unit commander and State Inspector General. Hill died on April 6, 2020. His wife, Ruth Ann Nail Hill, died less than three weeks later on April 24, 2020.

Political career

Re-elected in 2018 to his 15th two-year term, Senator Hill was first elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1990. Senator Hill was the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and under his leadership Georgia maintained the highest

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awarded, a "Triple A," from the national rating agencies. Senator Hill also served as the Vice Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. He also served on the Natural Resources and the Environment and Regulated Industries and Utilities, and was an ex-officio member of the Finance Committee. Past chairmanships include: K-12 Education, Ethics, and Higher Education. Senator Hill represented Georgia's 4th Senatorial District which includes: Bulloch, Candler, Effingham, Emanuel (pt.),

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and Tattnall (pt.) counties.

Legacy

Gordonia-Alatamaha State Park was renamed Jack Hill State Park following his death. In February 2021, Georgia Southern University announced plans to build a new convocation center to replace

Hanner Fieldhouse Hanner Fieldhouse is a 4,325-seat multi-purpose arena in Statesboro in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was built in 1969 and is home to the Georgia Southern University men's basketball, women's basketball and women's volleyball teams. It hosted th ...

; the new arena is planned to be named after both Jack and Ruth Ann Hill and is projected to open in the fall of 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Jack Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans Georgia (U.S. state) state senators 1944 births 2020 deaths People from Reidsville, Georgia Georgia National Guard personnel Georgia Southern University alumni Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American politicians