Roll Call Tribute

Published in The Beaumont Enterprise on May 8, 2012

Delmar Shelley Hill[i]ard
Delmar Shelley Hilliard, age 81, passed away on May 7, 2012. He was married to Bobbye Hilliard for 60 years. Shelley was a Fighter Pilot: 175 missions in Vietnam. A proud 1952 graduate of Texas A & M, he wore his class ring until his last breath, yesterday, May 7, 2012. Any Aggie he came across was an immediate friend and common ground was only a short conversation away. Diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy as a young man, he made it through Pilot training in the Air Force, two tours of duty in Vietnam, and finally, at 37, when the Air Force told him his body was failing and gave him an honorable medical discharge, he went to law school. For over 20 years he served as county attorney in Newton County, Texas, his home town. When the County commissioners refused to put in a Courthouse elevator so he could get upstairs to the only Courtroom, he sued and won. The elevator was nicknamed Shelley's Shaft. As his muscular dystrophy progressed, Shelley became more and more of an advocate for the disease that continued to spread inside his body, and the body of his oldest son, Del. In 1992, Shelley was the Texas MDA Personal Achievement Award recipient, saying at the time I want to convince people, with any kind of disability, to just get out and keep going; don't stay home in bed.. When his wife wanted to move closer to the water, he closed his law office, sold the house, and bought a condominium at the Breakers on North Beach. He practiced for 15 more years with his son, Bob Hilliard, until the Dystrophy required him to retire. There wasn't a book he hadn't read or a topic he could not speak about. He had no interest in dwelling on his own ailments or limitations. An active and lively mind until the very end, he closed his time in this world by whispering to his daughter-in-law, My Ipad won't let me download my books, can you help?. And then, to his one true love, his dear wife, Bobbye, he smiled and said I love you, still….. He is preceded in death by his son, Delmar Shelley Hilliard, Jr.; parents, Annie and Carl Hilliard; his sisters, Wanda Martin and Ruth Anne McDowell. Shelley is survived by his wife, Bobbye Clifton Hilliard; his daughter and son-in-law, Missy and James Feistel; his son and daughter-in-law, Bob Hilliard and Catherine Tobin; his brother Col. John Ed Hilliard; his grandchildren: Laury Nelson and her husband, Kevin, Meredith Feistel, and Stewart Feistel and his fianceé Ashley Kuchel, Emily, Alex, Carl, Robbie, Allie (Salazar) and Tobin Grace Hilliard; A great-grandchild, Cathryn Johnson. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. (www.mdausa.org). Funeral Mass will be held at the Corpus Christi Cathedral at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, with full military honors. Interment will be private. To view tribute please view: seasidefuneral.com.