Kelly W. Hill, a career mortgage banker and marketing director who had been involved with various philanthropic endeavors, died Nov. 1 from liver disease at her New Windsor home. She was 61.

“Kelly was light-hearted and had a great sense of humor,” said James D. Ball, who retired this year after serving for a decade as president of Carroll Community College. “She wanted to help market our students, and she always wanted to know the impact and details of how we got things done.”

Kelly Williar, daughter of David W. Williar, a businessman, and Lois K. Schley, a banker, was born in Westminster and raised in Hampstead.

A North Carroll High School graduate, she earned associate degrees in business administration and exercise science from Carroll County Community College. She was a member of two business societies, Phi Theta Kappa and Alpha Beta Gamma.

In 1990, Ms. Hill began her banking career with the old Mercantile Mortgage Corp. as a loan settlement administrator.

After leaving Mercantile, she worked for Fountainhead/Old Kent Mortgage Co. in Timonium as a mortgage loan processor.

From 1995 to 1997, she was a mortgage processor supervisor at Bankers 1st Mortgage Co. in Owings Mills, and from 2000 to 2003, she was marketing director of Masonry Homes Inc. in Manchester, which was owned by her former husband.

Ms. Hill later served as marketing director from 2012 to 2015 for Sidney Willoughby Run in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

She returned to banking in 2015 when she joined BB&T Bank, where she worked opening new accounts and selling services until retiring in 2017.

“Philanthropy became the most important thing in her life,” her mother said.

As a member of Shiloh United Methodist Church in Hampstead, she participated in the Zimbabwe Volunteers Mission, where she helped build schools.

“The girls were shoeless and had no uniforms,” Ms. Hill told The Carroll County Times in an interview. “They lived with their grandmother because their parents had passed away from AIDS. I paid their school fees for a number of years and bought them uniforms, shoes and socks … I wanted them to feel like a part of their schoolmates.”

She traveled to Africa five times.

Ms. Hill was the past president of the Carroll Hospital Center Auxiliary and the Carroll Community College Foundation.

“She was campaign chair for our first major gifts campaign. Our goal was $4 million, and we exceeded that,” Ball said. “The money went for student scholarships and to support new programs and technology.”

She was named National Philanthropist of the Year in 2008, and two years later, local Philanthropist of the Year.

She was the recipient of the Carroll Community College Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019.

She was an active member of the New Windsor Lions Club and attended St. Paul United Methodist Church.

Ms. Hill was also a diehard Ravens and Elton John fan.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Dec. 4 at Eline Funeral Home, 934 S. Main St., Hampstead.

In addition to her mother, she is survived by her father, David W. Williar, of Sykesville; her brother, David W. Williar Jr., of Westminster; a sister, Lauren Myers, of Westminster; a stepbrother, Benjamin Sherman, of Frederick; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her stepfather, Ivan Sherman, and stepmother, Tanya Williar.

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