Noted L.A. pastor, E.V. Hill, dies

Jet, March 17, 2003

Rev. E.V. Hill, 69, pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles and one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, recently died.

Hill, who rose from Texas poverty to become a confidant of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., reportedly died from pneumonia complicated by other medical conditions.

Hill was such a nationally prominent clergyman that in 1992 following the riots in Los Angeles it was his church that President George H. Bush visited while touring the city.

A Republican, he gave the inaugural prayer at the beginning of President Richard Nixon's second term in 1972.

He preached a no-nonsense form of Christianity insisting on fidelity and holding men accountable for their their lives and marriages.

The L.A. Times reported this year Hill would have celebrated his 42nd anniversary as pastor of Mt. Zion.

He is survived by wife La Dean, whom he married in 1992 after his first wife died, his son Rev. E.V. Hill II, daughter Norva Rose Kennard, stepson Lawrence Anthony Donald and three grandsons.