He reportedly came to Hawaiʻi and jumped a whaling ship, and stayed. (Maui Council)
“Doc Hill (William Hardy Hill) was kind of the maverick businessman in Hilo … (he) eventually, became probably the most influential businessman on this island.” (Henderson)
“Doc” acquired his moniker for selling eyeglasses, after he came to the Big Island in 1913; he opened the Hill Optical Co in the Young Kwong Hoy building in 1917 (between what is now the Kress bldg. & Basically Books.)
License No. 1 under the 1917 legislation to Regulate the Practice of Optometry was granted to Hill; he was a charter member of the Optometry Board of Examiners.
“He had some experience in optics from a job in a jewelry store back on the Mainland, so when he noticed a display of 40-cent eyeglasses in a Chinese store he persuaded the proprietor to let him have four dozen pair on credit. These he peddled to aging Orientals in the plantation camps for $4, on easy payments.” (Star Bulletin, June 6, 1970; Schmitt)
Although the published biographical sketches of Hill mention only a grammar school or high school education, he reportedly possessed a Doctor of Optics degree from Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology and Otology. (Schmitt)
Doc added his jewelry business in 1919, and both his optical and jewelry businesses were among the largest in the Territory. When he was elected to our Territorial House of Representatives in 1928, Doc sold his optical and jewelry businesses to his bookkeeper, Freiderich Wilheim “Fritz” Koehnen. (Narimatsu)
“(O)nce you become associated with Doc Hill, you get very much involved with politics.” (Henderson) Hill was a member of Hawaiʻi territorial house and senate (he was senate president 1932-1959;) delegate to Republican National Convention from Hawaii Territory, 1944; member of Hawaii state senate, 1959-67.
Sometimes irascible, oft times flamboyant, but always keenly analytical and astute in his approach to the problems of the day. Senator Hill contributed greatly to the work of the legislature and to the development of the 50th State. (Congressman Matsunaga)
After President Dwight D Eisenhower signed the proclamation welcoming Hawai‘i as the 50th state of the union on August 21, 1959, the First Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i convened on August 31, 1959, in accordance with the Hawai‘i State Constitution.
During this 45-day First Special Session of 1959, the Senate elected Senator William H. Hill of the first senatorial district as Senate President. Senator Hill stated in his Opening Day remarks:
“This session of the Legislature is the most important that Hawai‘i has ever had and without a doubt will be the most important that will ever be known in Hawai‘i because in this session the die will be cast for future sessions.”
“Doc could go on telling you stories forever. (He’d say, ‘You gotta do things when you can, not when you can’t.’ In other words, if there’s a deal to be made or something that you want done, you do it when you can, and that means right now”. (Henderson)
‘Little Doc,’ his talking mynah bird joined him “(e)very year until the bird died In 1965, ‘Little Doc’ was brought from Hilo by his master to alt caged outside of the Senator’s ʻIolani Palace office – whistling at the wahines and saying ‘Vote for Doc Hill’ in true campaign style.”
Perhaps the ceremonial highlight of Doc’s Senate career came in 1967, when he appeared during one of the extended days of the session dressed in a kimono.
“Mr. President,” he said. “I have been humiliated, insulted and shunned the past few days and it’s all your fault. Last Thursday, Mr. President, I arose on this floor to tell you of rumors that the Senate might not adjourn as scheduled the next day.”
“I told you that my wife was going back home to Hilo In a few hours and wanted to know how many shirts she should leave for me In Honolulu. And you told me – before this body – that she should leave only one shirt.”
“Along about Saturday, I began to notice that when I would approach a group of senators I thought were my friends, they would scatter or else get upwind of me. I wondered what was wrong. Had I voted wrong on one of their pet measures?”
If ever the term Elder Statesman fit a man. It fit Doc. After many years in the inner circle of power In Hawaii government, age and the Democratic ascendancy In the Senate moved him back into the ranks during the late 1960s.
But really, Doc Hill never took a back seat to anyone in speaking his piece on the Senate floor. And age which slowed his step hasn’t yet worked its way up to the quick mind beneath that Caesar-like haircut. (Congressman Matsunaga)
It’s well known that Senator WH ‘Doc’ Hill of Hilo is a capitalist, period. (Honolulu Record, December 6, 1956)
“(Doc Hill) eventually got control of, at that time, the Hilo Electric Light Company (later known as Hawai’i Electric Light Co, (and the) General Motors dealership. … (He also had) Wailoa Motors, which operated a major tire-recapping facility that dealt mainly with the sugar plantations cane haul trucking tire needs”.
We had nine theaters around the island … (Hilo Theatres, Ltd) … I might say the theater business was a very good business before television arrived.” (Henderson)
He organized ‘Realty,’ a holding company in 1926; it was parent company to several of his holdings. (Realty was later renamed Realty Investment Co, Ltd.)
He also had “Hilo Thrift and Loan (Hilo Finance and Thrift Co., Ltd,) that eventually became what is known as Realty Finance. Doc was involved in “all kinds” of real estate ventures (land; built and bought businesses; developments, etc.)
From 1954 to 1973, Big Island developers, including Realty Investment Co Ltd, won permission to chop up thousands of acres in Lower Puna and sell them off into thousands of individual lots. (Dayton) Most of the subdivisions were created prior to the adoption of the Zoning Code in 1967. (Puna CDP)
Mainland marketing pieces for Puna subdivisions noted, “Your Future Is Here! If you’ve ever wanted to own property in Hawaii, it pays you to act now. Combine investment with pleasure in the 50th State of the Union.”
“William H Hill, says in his (Hilo Electric Report) that ‘the vast water supply, temperate climate and other natural resources, many still untapped, make the Big Island the Territory’s most valuable land area for economic development and location of new industry’.” (Salt Lake Tribune, April 10, 1960)
Hill and his wife Ouida and large homes in Hilo and Kona, and has hosted notable visitors for decades’ John Wayne and Pilar Palette were married on the grounds of his Keauhou Bay estate on November 1, 1954. ‘Doc’ Hill died in 1970.
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Amazing to read such an article about my grandfather for which I was named after.. William Hardy Hill Steiner
Hi Peter!
I am writing a bio about Doc Hill for our website http://www.historichonokaatownproject.com. I am using an interview from the 1960 Advertiser, and some of the things that Doc says in the interview do not jibe with your article. Please read January 10, 1960 People of Paradises supplement. Doc Hill built and owned the Honokaa Theatre (second one) down the street from the People’s Theatre. The People’s Theatre was owned Hatsuzo Tanimoto, a Democrat, who built and owned most of the theaters that Doc and his partner took over. He actually built very few. The People’s Theatre was called the ‘Democratic” theatre because Hatsuzo was a Democrat and hosted Doc’s political competition at rallies, while Doc’s was called the “DocHill Theatre” or “Republican Theatre”. In 1943, he took over Hatsuzo’s theatre with the exception of the People’s Theatre in Honokaa, which was run by his son up until 1993. Sadly, the Doc Hill Theatre has been taken over by the Onomura’s and divided up into retail spaces with glass frontage. For that reason it will never be leigible for the State and National REgisters of Historic Places–what our project is trying to accompmlish in Honokaa.I have a list of the theaters (even more than Lowell Angell knows of) as I have done the land research.
His partner was a fellow named George “Racehorse” Onomura from Honokaa. He was called ‘Racehorse” because he used to like to run his horses up and down Mamane Street, and when races were held, he was a heavy better. He joined his Crescent City Bakery with Realty Investment Company, Limited. Onomura later developed a subdivision in Honokaa at the makai-Hilo end of Honokaa on 7 acres of property–called the Onomura/Vierra subdivision. Please see our book “Honokaa Town” for more info.
I was, briefly, the Oahu Archaeologist back in 2009, and I have seen much correspondence from you through DLNR. I wish our administrators after you had been so conscientious.
Wendy Tolleson MA
Archaeologist and Historian
Historic Honokaa Town Project
Hi Wendy:
I am Doc Hill’s grandson and have many photos and news clippings given me by his daughter/my mother. I visited with my grandfather in Hawaii several times including the first year of statehood 1959.
If you want to contact me I think I could be of some assistance.
Best,
Hal Steiner
email: hsteiner@aol.com
Hey Peter,
Sorry about the misspellings in the last post–I often get up a head of steam and roll right along without reviewing the text of the post!
Anyway, I am reading the Articles of Incorporation for The Realty Investment Company, Limited (often mistakenly called just Realty Company) and surprisingly, the folk listed include P. C. Beamer, Pres., George Willfong, Secretary (Willfong owned a plantation in Honokaa and Maui, and his son joined with the Holmes mercantile empire in Hilo), and Hill as Treasurer. I know that Hill later bought Beamer’s real estate holdings in Hilo. 100 shares of stock at $100 par value were distributed at 20 shares a piece to Beamer, Willfong, Hill, Frank Wilson, and F.W. Koehnen.
Hi Wendy,
Not sure if you will get any notification as this thread has been silent for years, but I thought reaching out would be worth a try. I see this is a page for Doc Hill, but I see mention of G. Willfong and I am guessing his son NC Willfong in this comment. If that is who is referred to, would you happen to have any further information on these men? He, George, is my Great grandmothers – grandfather. Anything would be greatly appreciated!!!
Hi Samantha,
Yes, it is George Willfong. A better source than I is Momi Naughton, who is the curator of Honokaa’s history at the North Hilo Education and Research Center. It is closing, but she is moving to a new location in the town thanks to the generous financial help from residents and our founder of the Historic Honokaa Town Project [see http://www.historichonokaatownproject.com]. I know that George eventually moved to Maui to run a sugar plantation there. He was quite influential in the early history of the town, but his property lay outside my venue, as I was studying land use along Honokaa’s main thoroughfare, Mamane Street. Momi was quite interested in George, and will be better suited to answer your questions. Her email is mominaughton@gmail.com. Good luck!
Hi Wendy,
So pleased that my grandfather is being remembered with such grace and history. As his first born grandson, and happy recipient of a baby myna bird from him in the early 60s. I remember him fondly with my visits to Hilo on several occasions, including his last stay in a Hilo hospital. I was passing through Pearl Harbor while in the U.S. Navy, and was called to his bedside on the Big Island. He asked me to sing “Silent Night” to him, which I did, to the alarm of the staff because the moment was very much after hours. He also asked me if I had a cigar . . . What a character. He and that myna bird were certainly rascals.
My mother was the single child from his first marriage, named Patricia Louise Hill. Sadly, she passed away in The MGM Grand Hotel fire, and I scattered her ashes just off The Hilo Yacht Club at her request.
With great love, R.I.P. to both.
Hi Bruce,
I’m a bit confused as I have been talking to Hal Steiner, Doc’s grandson. How are you related? Hal has been supplying me and our Historic Honokaa Town Project with tons of material he has collected about his grandfather over the years, written and photographic. If you would care to share or begin a dialogue with our project please e-mail me. If you haven’t connected with Hal I can connect you.
Mahalo,
Wendy Tolleson
Historian and Archaeologist
Historic Honokaa Town Project
This is easy . . . Doc Hill was married to my grandmother (NOT Quida) first, and they had one daughter, my Mother. My Grandmother (his first wife), who I met once in Palo Alto (San Francisco) when I was around 11 was quiet about her successor. Suffice it to say that the two women did NOT like each other. I was Doc Hill’s FIRST Grandson, born in June 1948.
I can forward a photo of Doc Hill (Quida), my mother and two sisters, taken in Los Angeles. Where do I forward this photo?
Again, this is easy, Doc Hill was married to my Grandmother long before The Steiners (of New Jersey) came to be, after he married Quida.
I was also a guest at both the Hilo estate and the other in Kona. Beautiful at the time, and when I attended school in Hilo for one year, I hung out at The Hilo Yacht Club after classes.
While in the U.S. Navy submarine service, I visited several times when in Pearl Harbor, and that includes being called to his bedside just after we came into port – he died soon after my visit, with Silent Night drifting through his head, I hope.
Also, he had two Granddaughters by my mother, Patricia Louise Hill: Diane (1946) and Wendy (1950).
You can find my mother’s name Patricia Louise (Hill) Tunis on the registry of the MGM Grand hotel fire’s list of deceased. She was a mere 60 years old. Wendy died of Cancer in the 80s.
Diane is alive and living in the desert areas East of Los Angeles.
I have also visited the Steiners when I was a teenager, traveling with my Mother and sisters.
Further, when Doc Hill died, a cash inheritance was split between Quida Hill, Hilo Steiner, and Patricia Hill Tunis. It was set up so that, if one died, the remaining two would split that part. When my mother died, Quida and Hilo benefitted.
All-in-all, he was a very creative, courageous and a very great help to the Big Island.
Hi Bruce, I am a distant relative of Hardy Hill and have been interested in his life in Hilo. I would like to talk to you about your times with him and about your mom and grandmother. Monty monleehill@msn.com
Done the math yet ?
My mother was born in the first quarter of 1920.
When did Doc Hill marry Quida Mundy ???
My mother was a very good Hula dancer, ballerina (New York), and a very courageous single mother of three.
Also, I am actually the SECOND grandson to Doc Hill.
The Steiner family (Hal and Peter) came along much later, and made a living selling lampshades in New Jersey.
Curious yet ?
Just checking to see if your article can be researched and completed with the full legacy of my Grand-pa.
Hi Bruce,
Well that does clear things up. I was exploring the family for a short bio and Hal reached out to me. I wrote the biography on your grandfather which you can read at our Historic Honokaa Town Project website (www.historichonokaatownproject.com) because he owned one of the theaters in the town of Honokaa–which he bought from his rival, Hatsuzo Tanimoto, who owned the People’s Theatre just down the street. The People’s Theatre is now on the Historic Register, unfortunately, the family of your grandfathers business partner (“Race Horse” Okumura) altered the Honokaa Theatre (also called the Doc Hill Theatre) so much that it no longer looks like a theater. He cut the front up into retail space, with big plate glass windows, and attached a three story apartment building to the back. Such a shame! But the theater down the road in another plantation town named Hakalau has been purchased and is going to be restored. That was also one of his theatres. Most of the town is gone, but the theater lives on! I think our project is going to help put the building on the Historic Register. Please give me your family tree if you don’t mind!
I have several John Wayne autographed photos. I purchased a vintage 11×14 John Wayne photo a few years back signed by John Wayne. The inscription reads “Ouida, It’s great working with the big lug, Duke” The seller said it was inscribed to Doc Hill’s wife.