Janelle Victoria Hill

92, of DeSoto, TX passed away on August 11, 2016. Funeral Services will be held in the Chapel of West/Hurtt Funeral Home at 2:00 P.M. on Monday - August 15, 2016 with Rev. Kelly L. Wolverton, officiating. The family will receive friends from 1:30 P.M. - 2:00 P.M. prior to the funeral service (on the same day). Burial will follow in Forest Oaks Cemetery, 6300 W. William Cannon Dr., Austin, Texas 78749 at 1:00 P.M. on Tuesday - August 16, 2016 with Dr. Ken Baldwin, officiating. Janelle Victoria Hill passed away, peacefully, in the early morning hours of August 11, 2016. She had been a resident of Crescent Place, in Cedar Hill, since February of this year. She was a sweet and gentle lady. Janelle was generous in many ways to friends and family and an instant friend to everyone she met. She was a great neighbor to those living near her and they were always ready and anxious to help her in any way they could. She was a well-known and active member of the Hampton Road Baptist Church where she was a devout Christian woman. Janelle was born on April 14, 1924 in Austin, Texas to Arthur and Judith Victoria Berg. Janelle survived her three sisters, Virginia, Elaine and Dolores. She was a 1941 Allan High School graduate in Austin. At the age of 19 she met a young soldier based at Ft. Hood, Texas. He was Marvin Willard Hill from Hugo, Oklahoma. They were married June 1, 1943 when she was 19 and he was almost 26. Marvin left Ft. Hood for WWII and was trained to be an armored tank driver. Janelle often told the story of Marvin being the ‘first tank to cross the Rhine River from France into Germany during World War II.’ She and Marvin moved to Desoto from many years in the Laurel Land area of Dallas. They purchased and moved into a brand new home on Brookhollow Drive in 1966. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary there in 1968. She began working for Southwestern Bell Telephone at the age of 17, it was the only job she ever had. She retired in 1984 after 37 years, 11 months of service. At that time she knew every area code and its location in the entire U.S. phone system, from memory. Janelle and Marvin loved to travel and many years ago they both visited Sweden; any conversation of any length with Janelle would usually drift to her love for that country of her ancestry. Marvin passed away in 1984 after a long service and retirement as a Greyhound bus driver in NE Texas and Arkansas. They had no children. Janelle’s survivors include: Sister-in-law, Edna Curtis of Hugo, Oklahoma, and her two adult children, niece, Margaret Harris and nephew, Dale Curtis. Nephew, Ken Brown and his wife, Gail, of McKinney, TX. Nephew, Michael Brown and his wife, Sandra, of Arlington, TX. Nephews Rodney and Keith Wesson, and great nephew, Todd Wesson, all of Austin. Also, numerous other great nieces and nephews. Janelle was loved and will be greatly missed by her family, neighbors and her church family.