[ RELIGION ]
90-year-old gives
rare gems to church’s
thrift auction
Barbara Hill has contributed money and volunteer time to her church all her adult life.
Now, at 90, she's decided to give her worldly goods, too.
Hill gave her precious possessions, including artworks, crystal, silverware, furniture and more than 100 pieces of jewelry, to Holy Nativity Episcopal Church for its annual thrift shop auction and Christmas sale next weekend.
"I don't have much need for a lot of things anymore," said Hill, who moved from Waikiki into the Victoria House care home in Niu Valley this year.
"It is a fabulous gift," said Holy Nativity thrift shop manager Barbara Morlet. Vintage Hawaiiana, Oriental rugs and a signed original Madge Tennent print are among other donations that have been appraised and are in secured storage.
Christmas decorations will also be offered in the sale, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. next Saturday at the shop at 5286 Kalanianaole Highway. Some are listed for silent auction bids in advance of the sale.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Barbara Hill, 90, holds a four-strand fetish Heishi necklace, part of a collection she is donating to the Holy Nativity Episcopal Church.
"There's no reason why I shouldn't give it all to the church," said the benefactor. Hill had already given some items with family history to a niece and left other things to family members when she moved to Hawaii from Reading, Mass., in 1976.
"Everything I have in my room here has a story behind it," she said, pointing to a large framed photograph she took of Mount McKinley; a cross made of stained glass matching windows in the Washington, D.C., Episcopal cathedral; small pieces of her own yarn weaving; and a pair of Chinese vases that were a gift from a friend.
She said she had dreamed of returning to Hawaii since childhood. She attended Punahou School from 1925 to 1928 during her father's assignment here with the Navy office of the Judge Advocate General. She returned after retiring from the Reading school system as an elementary reading supervisor.
Hill made gold and silver jewelry for years, and pieces of her own craft-work were among her gift. In a Tuesday visit, Morlet returned one of them.
When she saw the silver key chain she had made for her father many years ago, Hill clasped it tight and declared it to be a keeper.
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