Dempsey Hill

Dempsey Craig Hill died peacefully on September 9, 2023, at Kitty Askins in Goldsboro.  He was born November 20, 1940, to Odell Hill and Cleo Smith Hill.

 Born and raised in Deep Run, he graduated from Deep Run High School in 1959 where he enjoyed playing baseball and basketball. In 1963 he married his high school sweetheart, Shelba Grady. After graduating from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy in 1964, Dempsey and Shelba moved back to Lenoir County.  In 1965 Dempsey volunteered for 6 years of service with the Army National Guard as a pharmacy specialist.  He would spend the next fifty-nine years with his focus on three things: God, family, and pharmacy.

 He is survived by his wife Shelba; daughters Megan Hill Saint-Amand (Steve), Miranda Hill Wiggins (Kevin) and son Matthew Hill (Lynsey Rouse) Grandchildren; Madison Saint-Amand Davis (Brett), Malone Saint-Amand, Sylas Rouse, Maddox Saint-Amand, Cleo Wiggins, Cade Wiggins and Rowan Hill. He’s also survived by his two younger brothers Dennis Hill, Dexter Hill and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. 

            Dempsey started his pharmacy career at the Standard Drug drive-through. A few years later he became the owner of Kinston Clinic Pharmacy and eventually expanded that business into his namesake, Dempsey’s Drugs.  Known for his quiet compassion and work ethic, Dempsey was an inspiration to everyone who knew him, and his example will be an inspiration for generations to come.

 A memorial service celebrating Dempsey’s life will be held at Kinston First Baptist on Sunday, September 17, 2023, at 3:00 pm.

Pray…then rise, and work.

Prayer gives us the ability to do things.

Prayer is not asking God to do something.

It’s asking God to make us able to do something ourselves.

With God, the impossible becomes that which is done.

Prayer gives us the ability to accept things.

Prayer gives us the ability to accept a situation and then transform it.

Prayer gives us the ability to bear the unbearable

To face the unfaceable; to pass the breaking point and not break.

            -Dempsey’s personal notes from a Bible study on prayer.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father” Ephesians 3:14