Era Lee Pierce Hillis

Era Lee Pierce Hillis, 98, of Texarkana, Texas, departed this life on Tuesday, December 30, 2014, at Wadley Hospital in Texarkana. She was born December 26, 1916, in Prairie View, Arkansas, to the late Robert Lee and Era Ethel Blair Pierce. She attended Arkansas Tech in Russellville, Ark., and taught school for several years in Conway, Ark. She married James Ralph Hillis on August 23, 1942 after his graduation from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Together they served Christ in numerous Methodist Churches across Arkansas for over 30 years. They were blessed to spend 51 years together before he passed away in 1993. Era Lee was a devoted minister's wife and a loving mother and grandmother. She was a faithful member of First United Methodist Church in Texarkana, Arkansas, where she was a member of the Montgomery Sunday School Class. She enjoyed cooking, baking, all kinds of sewing and needlework, her friends in the Nandina Garden Club, and her sisters in PEO Chapter V. Era Lee was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Dr. J. Ralph Hillis, her parents, one sister, Dana Pierce Blaylock, two brothers, William and Fay (Pat) Pierce, and one son, James Robert Hillis. She is survived by two children, Dr. Mike Hillis and wife Sherri of Texarkana, Ark., and Ellen Jo Hillis Tate and husband, Dr. Jeffrey Tate of Rogers, Ark.; daughters-in-law, Aimee B. Hillis of Little Rock, Ark, and Kathy S. Hillis of Baton Rouge, La.; 10 grandchildren, Lisa Hillis Browning and Beth Hillis McCandless of Little Rock, Ark., Deborah Hillis O'Meara of Bent Mountain, Va., Dr. Michael Hillis of Alma, Ark., James Andrew Tate of Brooklyn, N.Y., Christopher Hillis of Conway, Ark., Elizabeth Tate Bradt of Owasso, Okla., Lindsey Hillis and Hampton and Brennan Hile of Texarkana, Ark., and 12 great-grandchildren. Visitation will be on Thursday, January 1, 2015, 6-8 p.m. at East Funeral Home on Moores Lane, Texarkana, Texas. A celebration of Era Lee's life will be on Friday, January 2, 2015, at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church, Texarkana, Ark. Burial will be at East Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to First United Methodist Church, Texarkana, Ark., or the Multiple Systems Atrophy Coalition, 9935-D Rea Road #212, Charlotte, N.C., 28277. Online tributes can be posted at www.eastfuneralhomes.com.