Casino executive hill dies at 77

Monday, May 15, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

When Jimmy Hill was president of the Fremont Hotel, he would walk through the casino, happily greeting everyone from porters to executives to guests.

"My father was part of the old Las Vegas -- a dynamic personality who had a way of making everyone feel welcome -- and there are not many like him left," Candy Schneider said today.

"He made the Fremont a shining star of downtown Las Vegas."

James J. Hill, who worked five decades in the casino industry, including 17 years at the Fremont, died Thursday at Nathan Adelson Hospice following a lengthy illness. He was 77.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 48 years were to be held at 2 p.m. today at Palm Mortuary Eastern. Interment will be in Palm Valley View Cemetery.

Hill was the husband of longtime charity volunteer and leader Charlotte Hill, an official of the Sun Summer Camp Fund. They were married for 54 years.

Born March 23, 1923, in Covington, Ky., Hill worked in casinos in Miami before coming to Las Vegas in 1952. He worked in the Sands craps pit during the era when Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack frequented the establishment.

He also worked as a casino executive at other resorts, including Caesars Palace and the Riviera, from which he retired two years ago.

Hill was with the Fremont Hotel from the day it opened in 1958 until 1975, the year he took a casino executive post at Caesars.

Hill rose from working the Fremont's gaming tables to its presidency. He was named the Fremont's general manager in 1970 and before that, was casino manager for several years.

Hill's civic duties included a long stint with the United Way, serving as chairman of raising funds from employees and executives of major companies in 1970. He also was a member of the Variety Club Tent No. 39.

Hill, a longtime cigarette smoker who was diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago, was cancer-free the last nine years of his life, his family said, noting that his death was unrelated to that disease.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Hill is survived by another daughter, Linda Hill-Wade, all of Las Vegas, and two grandchildren.

The family said donations can be made in Jimmy Hill's memory to KLVX-TV Channel 10 (PBS), Nathan Adelson Hospice or the Sun Camp Fund.