Alva Hill

You can hardly turn a corner in Butler without seeing Alva Hill’s legacy.

The longtime Butler architect had a hand in designing numerous churches, schools, homes, offices and retirement homes.

Known for buildings that were as beautiful as they were functional and enduring, Hill often gave more than design work to his clients.

Hill, 94, of Butler died Friday morning at his home.

He was a founder of the Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann and Associates architectural firm in Butler, which now is called Stantec.

“He was so dedicated to his clients that they often became friends for life,” John Kosar, who worked in the same firm as Hill since 1957 and became a partner in 1969, said during an interview in September. “He was a very special person and mentor. He was extremely talented and complete. He had design skills and technical skills.”

Hill, who grew up in Leechburg, worked in the steel mills right out of high school. Shortly after that, he became a fighter pilot with the Army Air Corps during World War II.

On his return home in 1947, he attended the architecture program at Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he met one of his future partners: Ralph Burt. Even before their graduation in 1952 both Hill and Burt were offered positions in the firm of Howard and Murphy and both soon became partners.

During his time with the firm, Hill played a significant role in many prominent buildings in this area, including Butler High School, the Cliffside Apartment Buildings and the B’nai Abraham synagogue.

The Butler office grew from nine to more than 100 people during that time. And in 1965 Hill was instrumental in helping start a branch office in Fort Myers, Fla.

“He was very aware of the environment and surroundings and tried to design into that,” Kosar said. “And those buildings are still around and serviceable.”

Kosar said during the height of Hill’s career, the office staff enjoyed getting together to visit other cities to see notable architecture there.

“He was intellectual, philosophical, thoughtful,” Kosar said. “And he just loved to reminisce about the good old days.”

Hill retired from Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann and Associates in 1989. In his retirement, Hill volunteered his expertise to the students in the architecture program at the Butler County Community College.

The college awarded Hill as honorary professor in August 2010.

According to the school’s annual report, Hill “devoted his time and expertise to architectural design students at BC3. Each fall semester, Hill gives individual design critiques to the sophomore students enrolled in Design I and he does the same in the spring for freshman students enrolled in Drawing. Hill enhances the curriculum by sharing real-life local projects with the students.”

Joseph Vaughan, a professor of architecture, in an interview in September, said, “He’d go desk to desk giving students critics on their designs. And then in the spring, he’d sit down with each student and go through their house designs. He did this for 15 years with no pay. He was so well loved by the students.”

“He contributed so much. I consider him the pied piper of Butler in terms of seeing the needs of the community and paying back. He had visionary projects.”

His funeral arrangements are being completed by the Thompson-Miller Funeral Home, Butler.