Early Sunday morning, my very dear friend Kevin Hillman wrecked his motorcycle and passed away. I found out Sunday afternoon and I’ve pretty much been in hiding. I’ve accomplished a little bit of work (thank goodness I have a job where I can work from my home), I attempted running yesterday but kept pulling over b/c I kept having bouts of tears stream down my face. I ran over to the Audubon b/c that’s where Kevin and I loved to have breakfast. We’d go to Kroger, get granola, fruits, yogurts, etc. and have an early morning picnic at our spot. We’d talk about girls, life, biking, working, you name it – we talked about it.
I could always count on Kevin to join me at the drop of a hat. If I woke up and wanted to hike, I could call him and he’d be over in his orange VW vintage pick-up, ready to go. If I wanted to go for a run, he’d be at my house at 8am with his running shoes on. Kevin had one of the biggest hearts in my life. Even if he didn’t know you that well, he’d give you the shirt off of his back b/c that’s just how we was. He was always kind and thoughtful and full of love. He was a bit lost in his life but I feel that’s just b/c he wanted to do so much and experience so much. I had complete faith he would figure it out – I mean, he was ONLY 24.
Kevin loved to bicycle. So many evenings and mornings, we’d ride. He helped me out so much with my Safe Routes to School. He absolutely loved helping little kids learn to ride bikes. He was a huge advocate for not only Consider biking but for the City of Columbus. He wanted more for this city. He wanted safe streets for bike riders. He even went to the National Bike Summit in D.C. this past year where he vowed he would continue to go every year b/c he was so inspired. We even just talked about our plans for going together next year and how he was all ready beginning to save up.
This post does nothing to convey how much Kevin meant to me but I did feel the need to at least share a little sliver of how amazing my friend was. The abruptness of his death is something that will take some time for me to grasp as I’m sure many of his other friends. The idea of never hearing his laugh again, never hearing his VW pick-up pull up outside my apt. or never giving him another hug is heart wrenching.
Here are some photos of Kevin. I love and miss you, my friend.
Jess:
Your outpouring of love for my sweet boy touches my heart deeply.
Mom H
he was an amazing friend to me. i miss him, dearly.
Jess, I am a friend of Kevin’s from his Whole Foods Market days. Though we did not spend lot of outside of work time together I loved and respected him and we stayed in touch through the years. His loss has affected me to my heart and I have been looking for any information regarding memorial or funeral services yet am unable to find any. Do you know? Thank You, -Andrew Ladd
andrew. unfortunately, the only kind of memorial service was yesterday at his mums house. i’m sorry this didn’t come sooner.
however, i’m headed to california until sept. 17th and we WILL be planning an organized bike ride in his honor once i return. shoot me an email (my contact is under the ‘about’ section) and i’ll keep you updated on dates, etc.
thank you for reaching out, andrew.
[...] Jess Mathews shares her memories of Kevin in this touching post. LINK [...]
Here’s a link to the benefit bicycle ride for Kevin Hillmann to honor what he stood for in everything he did. I hope you all can make it out.
http://www.facebook.com/events/340297346063587/
To the writer of this article I wanted to express my gratitude u portrayed Kevin in his true and wonderful light and I truly appreciate that. Kevin was a wonderful man and though we drifted apart with time I still miss the time we spent together.
Jim. Thank you for these kind words. Kevin was a very dear friend of mine and I miss him all the time. Your words are very thoughtful and I’m glad you appreciated the post for him.
Jess
Could or should I say would you forward Jim’s email to me.
I don’t have an email, unfortunately. Just his comments.