Colin Clive Hillary

Colin C. Hillary passed away peacefully at his home in Coral Springs with his wife Joy by his side at 2:20am on January 2, 2025, following a courageous battle with cancer. He was 83 and is survived by Joy, his beloved wife of nearly 58 years.

Born in London, England in 1941 during the Blitz, Colin was the cherished son of Charles and Constance Hillary.  Charles, his father, was a fire chief fighting the horrendous fires in London caused by the catastrophic bombing.  Following the war, his parents decided it was time to start a new life in Australia, so at age 7 Colin and his parents took the long sea journey to settle in Sydney.

At age 18, Colin volunteered for the Australian National Guard.  After 12 months of training at the City of Sydney Commando Regiment Unit, of the 110-man intake that year, only 12 earned their Green Beret and Colin was one of them.  He also trained as a Paratrooper, jumping many times over land and water.

In his late teens, Colin was inspired to take ballroom dance lessons, the social thing to do at that time.  Within a short period, he advanced to a level where he started entering dance competitions.  In 1962 at the dance studio, he met his future dance partner and wife Joy (Walker,) also from Sydney, and together over the next five years, went on to win many major National Amateur Latin American Dance titles.

They were married in January 1967 and turned Professional at which time Colin turned to publishing the Australasian Dancing Times magazine. 

To further their dance training and professional career, in 1968 they travelled by sea to London, England.  This culminated in their honor to represent Australia at the 1970 World Professional Championships at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Having had some previous experience dancing on the cruise ship enroute to England, they were sought by major shipping companies in Europe and the United States.  Within a short time, in 1971, Colin was promoted to the position of Cruise Director.  Together during the 70’s, they travelled the world as Cruise Director and Dance Team entertaining passengers on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Line and finally Holland America Cruises.

By this time, he came to the realization that he would not be returning to Australia to live. They bought their first home in Boca Raton on the Intracoastal in 1975.  Acquiring a “Green Card” in 1980 they bought a dance studio in Pompano Beach called Reflections Ballroom, which they operated until 1992.  

His next inspiration was to create a dance championship, so in 1988 the Heritage Classic Ballroom Dance Championship was born and held at the historic Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC, and is now in its 38th year.

In 1991 he decided it would be a good idea to promote the American Smooth and Rhythm styles of ballroom dance internationally, so he collaborated with dance authorities in Russia to organize a tour to Moscow and St.Petersburg featuring the top American Style Professional couples in a Team Match.   It was a huge success filling massive arenas, and the timing coincided with the period when Russia was experiencing political upheaval, and the new Russian Flag was paraded around the arena by the American and Russian dancers, a very emotional experience.

In the mid 90’s his next inspiration was TV!  He raised the funds needed to film the Heritage Classic and produced a total of 25 hours of programming over a few years for PBS, and it was sold world-wide.  Famous actress Cyd Charisse was engaged to host the program.

During this period, he had been attending the Blackpool Dance Festival in England every year as a spectator.  In his concern and enthusiasm for North American couples being able to compete at their best, he approached the Imperial Hotel about renting their ballroom for the duration so our couples had a place to practice.  Also included was a special complimentary dinner on the Sunday night to honor all American and Canadian couples competing in Blackpool.  He set about raising the necessary funds from generous sponsors and vendors, with the first year commencing in 1997 and continuing for 23 years through 2019.  It was known as “The Blackpool Project.”

One of his proudest life experiences was being invited by the Blackpool Dance Festival organizer to be the USA Team Captain in 2017 and again in 2018…  the winning team both years.

Colin was President of the Pan American Teachers of Dancing and travelled extensively as a National and World Judge at Ballroom Dance Championships.

He did have an interesting hobby – model trains.  He has a wonderful collection of Marklin trains that he had collected for many years. 

Colin was an Entrepreneur, a Promoter, a Perfectionist, a Creative Visionary, he thought “outside the box”, he had a terrific sense of humor and was a great storyteller.  He was always immaculately dressed and at his best in black tie.  Most important, he had a great heart with a constant desire to help and inspire dancers and people along the way in our wonderful world of ballroom dance.  Be assured he was most grateful for his many blessings and expressed that sentiment often. 

Colin has left an indelible mark on the Ballroom Dance world through his organizational skills, innovative spirit, dedication to dance, and in officiating events.  Colin's absence will be deeply felt by many who had the privilege of knowing him.

Relatives and friends are invited to celebrate Colin’s Life at a service at the Glick Family Funeral Home at 3600 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL 33431 on Wednesday, January 29th  at 1:00pm.  Entombment will follow at the Boca Raton Mausoleum.  Guests will be welcomed for refreshments and shared memories at their family home.

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