Eric Michael Hilton (July 1, 1933 – December 10, 2016) was an American heir, hotelier, and philanthropist.

Early life

Eric Hilton was born on July 1, 1933, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, the third son of

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American hotel magnate and politician who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916, Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature ...

, founder of the

Hilton Hotels Corporation Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the company is now led by Christ ...

, and Mary Adelaide Hilton (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Barron). Growing up in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, Hilton was educated at

El Paso High School El Paso High School is the oldest operating high school in El Paso, Texas, and is part of the El Paso Independent School District. It serves the west-central section of the city, roughly south and west of the Franklin Mountains and north of Int ...

and graduated from Texas Western College. He served as a radar specialist in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Career

Hilton started his career at the Hilton Hotels Corporation, in 1949. He first worked at the El Paso Hilton, working his way up from "bellman, doorman, steward, cook, elevator operator, desk clerk and telephone operator." Within a decade, in 1959, he became the manager of the Deshler Hilton in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. Two years later, in 1961, he became the manager of the Shamrock Hilton in Houston, Texas. He later served as the corporation's executive vice president. He also served on its board of directors. He served as its vice chairman from 1993 to 1997, when he retired.

Philanthropy

Hilton served as the chairman of the BEST Foundation for a Drug-Free Tomorrow. He also served on the board of directors of the Little League Foundation of America from 1977 to 2016 Additionally, he served on the board of trustees of the

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is an American non-profit charitable foundation, established in 1944 by hotel entrepreneur Conrad Hilton. It remained relatively small until his death on January 3, 1979, when it was named the principal benefici ...

. Hilton founded the Nevada Medical Center. He also founded the Three Square Food Bank, a

food bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (t ...

, in 2007. By 2016, the food bank had spread to Lincoln County,

Nye County Nye County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,591. Its county seat is Tonopah. At , Nye is Nevada's largest county by area and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, beh ...

and Esmeralda County. An on-campus restaurant in honor of Eric Hilton, Eric's, is part of the

Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management The Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership (Hilton College) is a college at the University of Houston, a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, focused on Hospitality industry, hospitality. It is one ...

. The college students run all aspects and operations of the restaurant and bar. Hilton received the Award of Merit from the American Vocational Association as well as the Alumni President's Award and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

Personal life and death

Hilton married Patricia Ann Skipworth on August 14, 1954. They were introduced at Texas Western College in

. They had four children: * Eric M. Hilton, Jr. (1955-2019); one daughter, Caitlin Patricia Davis Hilton (born 1994), who is an attorney at Ogletree Deakins. * Beverly Hilton-Neapolitan (born 1956), married to Robert Peter Neapolitan (born 1944) * Linda Hilton-Buschini (born 1963); married Fabrizio Buschini in 1992, two sons; Nicholas Angelo Buschini (b. 1993) and Brandon Alessandro Buschini (b. 1995). * J. Bradley Hilton (born 1967) They raised their children in a residence in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas. Eric Hilton died on December 10, 2016, aged 83 with his children beside him. Hilton's wife, Patricia, died the following May also at the age of 83. A private ceremony was held at their

Katy, Texas Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city ...

, home.

References

1933 births 2016 deaths Businesspeople from Dallas People from El Paso, Texas University of Texas at El Paso alumni United States Army personnel of the Korean War Businesspeople from Las Vegas American corporate directors Philanthropists from Nevada Hilton family Philanthropists from Texas {{Philanthropist-stub