Who is Fred Hill?

The Denton ISD Board of School Trustees announced the official name of the elementary school on Ryan Spiritas Parkway in Little Elm – Fred Hill Elementary School – honoring Fred Hill, who was the first African American male to serve on the Denton ISD Board of School Trustees.

The youngest of five children, Mr. Hill was born in Denton in 1934. He graduated from Fred Douglass/Fred Moore High School in 1953. Mr. Hill attended Prairie View A&M University and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army upon graduating with a bachelor’s of science in industrial arts.

Over the next 20 years, Mr. Hill served in Korea and West Germany before being stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He eventually rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel.

After his service in the military, Mr. Hill moved back to Denton and established People’s Funeral Home off Mulberry Street in 1974 – which is still operational today. That same year in 1974, Mr. Hill bought a home in the Southridge neighborhood, where he lived for almost 20 years before moving to the Forest Ridge neighborhood.

A prominent figure in the Denton community, Mr. Hill was appointed to the Denton ISD Board of School Trustees on April 8, 1978 to fill the unexpired term of Welton Stoker. Mr. Hill was then elected to the Board of School Trustees on April 7, 1979.

He served two terms and was Vice President from 1981-1982 and President from 1982-1984.