Richard Franklin Hilton

Funeral services for Chief Master Sgt. Richard F. Hilton, Pete 78, will be held Thursday, January 14, at 2:00 p.m. at Midway Baptist Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery. Rev. Todd Gandy will officiate. The family will receive friends Wednesday, January 13, from 5:00 7:00 p.m. at Baker Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers,memorials may be made to Boys Town-Nebraska, American Heart Association, National MS Society, Care Network of Kershaw, or Ward Faulkenberry Fund, Lancaster.

Richard Hilton was born in Lancaster County on April 20, 1931. He passed away at his home on January 10, 2010 surrounded by family members. He was the son of the late Ernest and Lillie Adams Hilton. He was the husband of the late Joyce Kathryn Hughes Hilton. Chief Master Sgt. Hilton was a graduate of Flat Creek High School and the University of South Carolina. He was a life member of Midway Baptist Church, The V.F.W. and a member of King Hiram's Masonic Lodge in Provincetown, Mass, which was built and instituted December 12, 1795 and chartered by MW Paul Revere. After his military career, he was employed by Springs Memorial Hospital, the Moose Lodge of Lancaster where he was also a member, Designs Americana, Heath Springs and worked privately as a CPA. His twenty seven year military career culminated in his retirement from the Air Force with the rank of Chief Master Sergeant, the pinnacle of an Air Force enlisted member's career and a rank that by federal law, only one percent of the enlisted Air Force may hold. His travels carried him all over the United States with tours of duty in Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, and Iceland.

He is survived by one daughter, Karen (Bob) Gowen of Forestdale, Mass.; three sons, Richard Dick (Kathy) Hilton, Jr. of Rochester, New Hampshire, Scott Hilton of Mesa, Arizona, and Gene (Becky) Loveland of Kershaw; grandchildren, Jennifer Hilton (Justin) Sampieri, Garrett Gowen, Tyler, Taylor and Jacob Hilton, Carrie Johnson, Mercede Johnson, Alexis Mathers, Kaitlyn Loveland, and Joyce (Tom) McCaron; great grandchildren, Tyler Sampieri, Ava and Carly McCaron; sisters, Effie (Raymond) Fortenberry and Mary Ellen Sis Rutledge and a large number of nieces, nephews and extended family members. He was preceded in death by a daughter-in-law, Stacey Hilton, a sister, Esther Hilton Goodson and a brother-in-law, Maxwell E. Rutledge.

The family would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Timmons for his care and compassion during Richards illness.