William Hillcourt - Later Life

Later Life

Hillcourt retired from the BSA on August 1, 1965. In 1971, he and Grace finally completed the world tour he had started in 1926; along the way they attended the 13th World Scout Jamboree in Fujinomiya, Japan. Grace Hillcourt died in 1973. Rather than live alone, Bill moved into the home of his good friends Carson and Martha Buck.

The BSA had introduced the Improved Scouting Program in 1972, along with a new edition of the Boy Scout Handbook. Many of the changes were intended to expand Scouting to a broader base of youth and to make Scouting more "in tune with the times". Many Scouters, including Hillcourt, were critical of the new program changes, exclaiming that the de-emphasis on traditional outdoor skills had taken the "outing out of Scouting". This change proved to be unsuccessful. To remedy this situation, Hillcourt convinced Chief Scout Executive Harvey L. Price that a new handbook was needed. Hillcourt then came out of retirement and spent a year writing and editing the 1979 edition of The Official Boy Scout Handbook, returning to the focus of Scoutcraft. In addition, he helped to develop the All Out for Scouting program that launched the return to the old standards. Hillcourt was regarded as a prominent figure and guide in BSA's recovery from its experiment earlier in that decade.

Hillcourt was recognized for his service to youth by the BSA with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award on May 19, 1978. In 1980, the BSA presented Hillcourt with their highest national honor, the Silver Buffalo Award and was cited as "The Voice of Scouting". The World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognized him for exceptional services to world Scouting in 1985 with the Bronze Wolf Award. In 1990 he also became a member of Firecrafter, an American Scouting service organization. Travel and appearances at Scouting events both local and worldwide were part of his routine until he died, earning him the sobriquet Scoutmaster to the World.

Hillcourt died at the age of 92, in Stockholm, Sweden, while traveling on a Scouting tour with Carson Buck in 1992. He is buried with his wife Grace in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Mendham, New Jersey, at Row 8, Block I, near Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation, where he had lived for so many years. His legacy in Scouting and his influence continue in the programs and training of Scouting. Consequently, his writings are still used within the Scouting movement and his material continues to be reprinted in Scouting magazine. The Longhouse Council operates the William Hillcourt Scout Museum and Carson Buck Memorial Library at Camp Woodland in New York to "keep the traditions of Scouting alive" through the preservation of the history that is a foundation for today's Scouting movement.