'There to comfort the children': Funeral honors the life and love of Mike Hill

Angele Latham, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
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Mike Hill, the 61-year-old custodian at The Covenant School and Covenant Presbyterian Church, was remembered Tuesday morning in a touching and joyful ceremony at Stephens Valley Church in West Nashville.

Hill was one of six victims of the mass shooting at the school on March 27.

'Big strong Mike': Friends and family remember Covenant shooting victim Mike Hill

Lines of mourners wrapped the block of the quiet residential neighborhood, filtering into the church, past vigilant Metro Police officers guarding the many entrances to the church.

They celebrated his life, yet the mood inside at times was somber — attendees audibly cried and touched lapel pins bearing Hill’s face as a violinist performed a soft rendition of “It is Well With My Soul." Throughout the crowd, hands were raised to the sky as if to touch the heavens.

Mourners gather at Stephens Valley Church to remember Mike Hill, the 61 year-old custodian who was slain in the March 27th mass shooting at The Covenant School.
Mourners gather at Stephens Valley Church to remember Mike Hill, the 61 year-old custodian who was slain in the March 27th mass shooting at The Covenant School.

“We loved Big Mike,” said Jim Bachman, current pastor of Stephens Valley and founding pastor of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, as well as longtime friend of Hill’s. “He was big, and he was strong and he was tough — but he was so soft and tender. He hugged my kids, he hugged your kids. He knew them by name. It comforts me to think that Mike was there to comfort the children as they entered the pearly gates of heaven.”

Bachmann shared a number of amusing memories of Hill, including Hill’s penchant for desserts.

“Mike didn’t always have my best interest at heart,” he said, laughing with the crowd. “Many a Wednesday afternoon there’d come a knock on my office door and it would be Big Mike with a little plate of piping-hot chocolate chip cookies that he made for Wednesday night supper, along with a cold glass of milk. He knew how to lead me into temptation.”

A staff photo of Mike Hill, courtesy of Covenant Presbyterian Church.
A staff photo of Mike Hill, courtesy of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Amid the humor, Bachmann took a moment to acknowledge the grief of the moment.

“The truth is that the world is dark, dangerous and sometimes deadly place,” he said. “But light has come into the world, and that light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not and will not ever overcome it.”

Hill was laid to rest at the Greenwood North Cemetery, lead by a procession of bagpipes and drums from the Virginia Military Institute and draped in flowers gifted from The Covenant School and Presbyterian Church.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville shooting: Funeral honors the life and love of Mike Hill