Hilton Eugene Hettmansperger

In 1942 he went to a machinist school in Anderson, IN and attended an aircraft sheet metal school in Nashville Tn.  He then worked as a riveter on Martin bomber airplanes in Akron, OH.

He served in the Navy from 1942 to 1945.  He was in the Naval Reserves and was a gunner on Liberty ships called the Augustine Heard and the Nathan Hale in the Second World War.  He taught the art of “leading a target” with a machine gun at Camp Bradford in Norfolk.

Hilton worked at the Goodyear Plant as an apprentice to build large belts used for conveying rock for the making of large dams.  Then after graduating from an air conditioning school, he worked at Dan H. Willis Co. in Akron.  He took the Dale Carnegie Course and was given the job of wholesale manager over northwest Ohio.

He married Dorothy Ellen Stone on June 1, 1944 in Akron, Ohio.  They discovered they’d met as children when her family visited relatives on a neighboring farm.  They had two children, Sue Ellen and Mary Jane. 
Mary had asthmatic bronchitis,  so that prompted the move to Albuquerque.  A drier climate was needed.  They lived on Erbbe St. for 52 years.

He didn’t have a job waiting, so he tried to sell encyclopedias door to door. He then sold heating and air conditioning.  He then had a job with a sheet metal company.  Comfort Air Service hired him to assemble the new “hepa” (High Efficiency Particle Air) filter producing ultra clean air that was then given to Sandia labs.  For twenty-two years he assembled, tested and installed biological cabinets, pharmacy clean benches, and large clean rooms in the US, Canada, Germany and Paris.

Dad had an amazing memory and a gift to recount experiences into interesting stories.  He enjoyed telling jokes.  He made great peanut brittle and summertime churned ice cream.  Dad was creative.  He hand made many of his own tools.  On some of his file rasps he glued on a dried corncob for an easy grip handle.  He made a heavy wood picnic table with retractable wheels.  He cut clear Plexiglas to create fork and knife dividers for kitchen drawers and made birdhouses from the material.  He was always thinking if new and different ways to do things or to make something useful out of scrap material.  We went camping and fishing many times taking side roads, which lead to some interesting adventures.  He enjoyed cooking on these outings. 

His wife on 72 years, Dorothy, preceded him in death on November 1st, 2016. Surviving are his younger siblings Bob and Helen (both from Wabash Indiana);  two daughters Sue of Iowa, and Mary Jane and her husband Carl of Cedar Crest; and two grandchildren, Chris, Sandra and her husband Shawn. 

In lieu of flowers please send donations to https://animalhumanenm.org

Memorial Service will be held on March 17, 2018, 2:00 pm at the La Vida Llena Carter Hall. 

Daniels Family Funeral Services

7601 Wyoming Blvd. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87109