Later Years
Hilkene was the 283rd pick in the 1948 NFL Draft, being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but did not play professional football.
As of 1961, Hilkene was working as a labor relations executive with a Detroit automotive firm. Hilkene worked for many years as a General Motors Corp. executive.
His son, Mike Hilkene, played football (at the end position) for the Michigan Wolverines in the late 1960s.
In April 1990, Hilkene died of cancer at his home in La Quinta, California. In 1992, he was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.
In 1997, his wife, Lee, and son Michael (one of Hilkene's three children) attended a 50-year reunion of the 1947 Michigan team. At the time, his wife noted, "Bruce felt that football taught him so much. In a way, it influenced the rest of his life. And it was the same way for the entire team."
Read more about this topic: Bruce Hilkene
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