He has a memorial highway in Norfolk 

By Robert Bumcrot 

 A road sign, which stands just west of Blackberry Road on Rte. 44, proclaims that part of the road to be the Trooper Charles F. Hill Memorial Highway. Who was Hill and what happened to him? Only the oldest native-born citizens can retrieve any memory from their teen years. “He was killed,” recalls Millie Allyn of Canaan. “He got sideswiped by a car,” says Norfolkian Eddie Kelley. 

Early in the morning of Thursday, November 6, 1941, Trooper Charles Hill was returning the recently acquired state trooper ambulance to the Troop B barracks in Canaan. He was coming back from Winsted Hospital, where he had been called by Dr. R. V. Sanderson to transport a patient.  In those days, 

ambulances were rare in rural Connecticut. Hill had been instrumental in obtaining this rig and was an expert in both administering and teaching first aid. On the previous Sunday he had received a commendation for outstanding work in this field. Hill began his duties at Troop B exactly 10 years before and had been promoted to Sergeant on August 1, 1939.  

At about 12.30 a.m., Hill stopped a car near Blackberry Farm driven by Fred Donsbough, a local resident. It is not clear whether Hill stopped him for an infraction or just to chat, since Hill had a wide reputation for friendliness. Hill got out of the ambulance and started across the road to meet Donsbough, who had also left his car, when Hill was struck and instantly killed by an eastbound car. The vehicle did not stop. Donsbough raced back to his car, gave chase and caught the driver in Norfolk, forcing him to return to the scene. While he was giving chase, the body of Trooper Hill was struck a second time,  by a car driven by another local resident, William Hassig, aged 18. The judgment that Hill was already dead was made later by coroner Lester W. Schaefer and Hassig was not charged.  

As soon as he was informed, State Police Commissioner Edward J. Hickey rushed from Hartford to the scene. Troop B commander Lt. Fred Brandt, Sgt. George Remer and other troopers conducted an extensive investigation. The driver of the fatal car, Richard Fitzgerald, 35, of Albany, N.Y., was arraigned and released on $2,000 bond. The final disposition of the case has not been discovered.  

Charles Francis Hill was born April 14, 1904, in Pawtucket, R.I. and lived for some time in West Haven. He had five sisters and one brother. His wife died giving birth to their only child, Charles F. Hill, Jr., who in 1941 was living with his maternal grandmother in Lebanon, Conn. Hill lived in the Troop B barracks. The funeral mass at Our Lady of Victory in West Haven was attended by delegations from every barracks in the state. 

At the time of his death Hill was second in command at Troop B. It was widely thought, though not confirmed, that he was to be given command of the new barracks in Bantam, then nearing completion. “He was a very efficient, very likable and very popular officer with the personnel and the public,” said Lt. Brandt at the time. “He is a fellow whom I hate to lose.”