Remembering an industry giant: John Hill

By Robert C. Kennedy

It was about two years ago, maybe a bit longer, when my phone rang. I picked it up to see that the caller was John Hill. I was delighted and a bit curious to see the call because I hadn’t spoken to him in many months and wondered why he would be calling me now. Turns out there really wasn’t a reason, he just wanted to check in and see how I was doing. 

That may sound inconsequential but think about it: how often do you get a call out of the blue from a person with no agenda other than to say hello? 

That was John Hill. He passed away earlier this month. He was 86 years old. Maybe you’ve seen his obituary on LinkedIn or have seen posts from people feeling the need to share how he influenced them. You can add me to that list. It’s a long one. 

I met him in the 80s, when he was with Logisticon, one of the first software companies to offer what became known as a WMS system. I managed to stay in touch with him into the 90s and called on him for help more than once. One time, when I was with BDM  International, we had a troubled project and needed to add a bunch of consultants. Once we found them and hired them, we designed a boot camp to immerse them in all things warehousing and WMS.

John was one of the first people I called. We agreed that he would come in and do part of the curriculum for the two-week session.  Except that before long, John had pretty much taken over the class. I was smart enough to sit back and let him go. My new staff could not have been in better hands. 

He played many roles for many different companies, always with a contagious passion for innovation. But in each of those roles, he remained a teacher first. A mentor. Late in his career, I had the honor of being invited by him to do a speaking tour. We spoke at several trade shows and conferences about innovation: software, hardware, automation, etc. He spoke with such ease; so natural. I think his audiences quickly recognized the wisdom of the guy, but also, I think they felt the genuine interest he showed in them. That was unique. I don’t recall seeing that in anyone else since.     

John Hill was an industry giant. A legend. But beyond all that he accomplished, he was a gentleman, a class act, and to so many of us all, a friend.