TR Hilton, 54, of John Day, died May 8 at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Friday, May 24, at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School in John Day.

Mr. Hilton was born Sept. 18, 1958, in Arpan, S.D., to Calvin and Jo Ann (Whitmer) Hilton. He graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School in 1977, and attended Blue Mountain and Central Oregon community colleges. He also served in the U.S. Marines for a year.

He was the ambulance director for Blue Mountain Hospital in John Day since 1986. He was an instructor for the American Heart Association, state Emergency Medical Services and the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. He also taught Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid and Prehospital Trauma Life Support.

On June 24, 2006, he married Kara Kohfield at Magone Lake. He enjoyed hunting, hiking, shooting, reloading for his guns, riding dirt bikes and his road bike, photography, woodworking, welding, running and bicycling. He loved his pet bobcats, and enjoyed teaching others. He was an inspiration to all.

He was involved in establishing the Blue Mountain Hospital emergency medical services program, and Grant County Ambulance Services. He served on multiple state EMS committees and advisory boards, and was asked to lecture at conferences throughout the state. He made a major impact on rural/frontier emergency medical services and in the metro area through his instruction. He was twice awarded Paramedic of the Year, was EMS Educator of the Year, received the EMS cross once, and two EMS unit citations.

Survivors include his wife, Kara; children, Casey (Danny) Komning of Culver, Ted (Jessica) Hilton of Baker City, Shabri (Kevin) Vignery of Keizer, Rob (Kelly) Smith of Charlotte, N.C., and Maddie Hilton of John Day; siblings, Joleen (Ed) Hankinson of Kalispell, Mont., Lloyd (Danise) Stringfield, Dean (Pam) Stringfield of Rifle, Colo., and Claude (Laurie) Hilton of Electric City, Wash.; and eight grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his father, Calvin, and brother, Ward Hilton.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Grant County Ambulance Special Fund through Driskill Memorial Chapel, 241 S. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845.