Albert Galatyn Hill Jr

Dallas entrepreneur and philanthropist Al G. Hill Jr. died in his sleep at his Highland Park home in December 2017, family members said. He was 72. Hill was the oldest grandson of legendary Texas oilman H.L. Hunt. The landmark Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge west of downtown is named for Hill's mother, who died in 2007. His father, Albert Hill Sr., was a prominent Dallas independent oil and gas producer who worked closely with H.L. Hunt. He died in 1988. In 2008, the family sold Margaret Hunt Hill's company, Hunt Petroleum, to XTO Energy for $4.2 billion. The following year, Hill and his family purchased Highland Park Village for $171 million and launched an extensive upgrade to make it one of the premier retail centers in the country. After the death of his mother, Hill became involved in a long-term legal dispute with his son, Al G. Hill III, over numerous family assets. Hill was an oilman, developer, feature-film producer, charter-jet operator and thoroughbred racehorse owner. But he will forever be known for bringing tennis into the professional era. In 1968, he co-founded World Championship Tennis with his uncle, American Football League co-founder and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, and promoter Dave Dixon. After suffering a spinal injury in a fall at his home in 2003, Hill used a wheelchair. It ended his regular trips to ski and scuba dive, but he remained active. He has served on the boards of St. Mark's, the Baylor Healthcare Foundation and SMU's John G. Tower Center for Political Studies. In addition to his son, Hill is survived by daughters Heather Washburne and Elisa Summers, nine grandchildren and sisters Lyda Hill and Alinda Wikert.