Beatrice Ruth Hillard, a longtime resident of Laguna Beach, passed away April 8, 2014. Born Sept. 29, 1924, Bea grew up in Milwaukee, Wisc., before moving to New York. There, she received her master’s in nursing from Columbia University in 1959. Specializing in pre-natal care and child birth, she wrote numerous published articles and traveled around the country lecturing on the subject.
A world traveler throughout her life, Hillard took a year off from her nursing career to journey around the world on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. After a weekend visit to Laguna, Hillard fell in love with the city and moved to town in the late ‘60s where she resided until her death.
