Harry W. Hillier

Harry Waffington Hillier IV — “Skip”

Harry Waffington Hillier IV, known throughout Honesdale and Wayne County as “Skip,” passed away peacefully at his home on July 18, 2026, at the age of 83, surrounded by friends and family.

Harry was born September 1, 1942, in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, the son of the late Harry Waffington Hillier III — known as “Hal” — and Mary Jane (Hartman) Hillier.

He attended Penn State University, where he earned a degree in chemical engineering and was honored with a mathematics award, and where he met Elaine Rutkosky, a history student who would become his wife. They married in 1964 and were devoted bridge partners for decades. Harry later earned an MBA from the University of Delaware.

His early career carried him from research and development at Scott Paper Company where he was a published researcher.  He later joined Merck Chemical, working first in Danville, Pennsylvania, and then in Albany, Georgia, where he served as factory manager.  In 1975, Harry and Elaine returned to her hometown of Honesdale, where he purchased her father’s business, Honesdale Electric Service, and made it a fixture of the community. He ran the company until his retirement in 2000.

Harry gave generously to the place he called home. In the mid-1970s he was one of the founders of the Honesdale YMCA, serving as its president for its first three years and remaining active well into the following decade. He later served as a board member and president of the Wayne County Historical Society, helping to oversee the addition to the museum in downtown Honesdale in the early 2000s. In his later years he lent his support to the Victims Intervention Program.

An athlete all his life, Harry was both a snow skier and a water skier who never let age slow him down — he was still carving turns and setting out on his morning slalom passes into his 80s. He lived fully and forward, meeting every day with the same conviction: that life was meant to be lived all the way through.

After the death of Elaine, his wife of fifty-six years, in 2020, Harry built a permanent home at Duck Harbor Pond, designed by his daughter, Kristen, and son-in-law, Vern, where lake life, family, and old friends filled his days. The Duck Harbor Pond community became a second family to him, and the house and people surrounding him were the foundation of his happiness.

Then Harry did something he never expected to do again: he fell in love. He met Marianne Leamy, and the two were married in Poughkeepsie, New York, surrounded by a great gathering of the family and friends who had come to love them both. In the years that followed, they made the most of every one of them, seeing much of the world together — a honeymoon in Paris; a river cruise down the Danube through Budapest and Bucharest; Prague, Spain, and Morocco; the Hawaiian islands; a paddle-wheeler up the Mississippi; and New Year’s Eve in Key West one year and New Orleans the next. Harry embraced Marianne’s family just as wholeheartedly and became a true presence in their lives.  He especially loved Marianne’s grandchildren, who delighted him endlessly and to whom he gave his whole heart.  Harry and Marianne’s family includes her daughter Amanda with her husband Donny Alves and their children Landon & Parker; her daughter Anne Marie Leamy with her husband Sean Rigothi and their children Michael, Christian, and AJ; and her son Kevin Leamy with his partner Rachel Bullock.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Elaine, in 2020; his parents; and his sister, Mary Jane Gentry.  He is survived by his wife, Marianne Leamy, and her children and grandchildren, whom he embraced as his own; his daughter, Kristen McKissick, and her husband, Vern McKissick III; Elaine’s sister, Cathy Gregory, and her husband, Pete, who remained family to him always; his sister, Beverly Knowlton, and her husband, Brad; his nephew K. Brad Knowlton and wife, Melanie; his niece Jessica and husband Rick Ortiz; and his nephews Kevin and Christopher Gentry.

Those wishing to honor Harry’s memory may consider a contribution to the Victims Intervention Program, whose work he supported in his later years.

Arrangements are under the care of Hessling Murray Funeral Home, Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21, with a formal service at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, both at Hessling Murray Funeral Home, 428 Main Street, Honesdale.  A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, July 25th from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Darby O’Gills, 3969 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY.  Condolences may be shared at hesslingfuneralhome.com.