By Bonnie Adams, Managing Editor
Officer Craig C. Hillier (Photo/courtesy Westborough Police Department)
Westborough – Craig C. Hillier, 59, a retired Westborough Police Officer, passed away peacefully at home on March 9 surrounded by his loving family. He was the husband of June L. (Erickson) Hillier.
Hillier was a senior patrolman with the Westborough Police Department; he retired in October 2011 after serving 31 years on the force.
Chief Alan Gordon fondly recalled his colleague.
“He and I went to Westborough High School together a year apart,” Gordon said. “In addition to his love for law enforcement, Craig was a talented musician. He played saxophone with the band ‘Tailspin.’ Craig was a pleasure to have on the department; he was always fair to everyone and always tried to help out wherever he could.”
Gordon noted that Hillier’s “proudest moment” was when upon his retirement, the department named its top marksmanship award after him.
“It will be forever known as the Craig C. Hillier ‘Top Gun Award,’” Gordon said.
Leigh Emery, the Board of Selectmen chair, noted that that Hillier was “the type of officer that everyone on the force liked to work with.”
“He was shrewd enough to be a detective which he did for a while but his real love was to be a patrolman,” she said. “He always treated citizens with respect from performing the routine duties of a patrolman to the extraordinary feat of saving lives, in particular a young baby he saved with prompt CPR.
“In the end he was a brave man facing his own destiny with a courage and dignity we all respect and admire,” she added. “On behalf of the Board of Selectman we send our sympathies to Office Hillier’s family, friends, and fellow officers.”
On the Community Advocate’s Facebook page, Westborough residents also offered their sympathies to Hillier’s family with one noting “Craig was a fantastic police officer, friend and will be missed by all who knew him, “ and another stating, “Very sad, my condolences to his family and the Westborough Police Department.”
Born in Quincy, Hillier was the son of Charles Hillier of Westborough and the late Mary Joan (Howlett) Hillier. He was educated in Weymouth and Westborough schools and was a 1972 graduate of Westborough High School. He attended Berklee School of Music and earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Western New England College.
“Craig loved spending time with his family by the pool and on the Cape during the summer,” his obituary noted. “He also enjoyed playing with his band ‘Tailspin’ for the past 20 years.
In addition to his wife and father, he is survived by one daughter, Cortney J. Hillier and her boyfriend, Scott Henderson, of Salem; two sons, Timothy R. Charland and his wife, Christine, of Shrewsbury and Daniel A. Charland of Westborough; one brother, Chuck Hillier of Westborough; a sister-in-law, Jill Hillier of Eastham; one grandson, Logan Craig Charland and many nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by a daughter, Colby M. Hillier and a brother, Christopher Hillier.
Calling hours will be held on Tuesday, March 12, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Rand-Harper-Pickering Westborough Funeral Home, 62 West Main St., Westborough.
A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m. in the First United Methodist Church, 120 West Main St., Westborough. Burial will follow in Pine Grove Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, his family has asked that donations in his memory may be made to the Westborough Patrolman’s Association Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1123, Westborough, MA 01581.