Changes

==The last years==

==The last years==

In 2009, shortly before his retirement as the journalism department chairman, Hilburn underwent successful [[heart]] bypass surgery.<ref name=latech/>He had also been treated in recent months for [[cancer]], which had been in remission<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20140126/OPINION02/301260022/100-percent-Wiley-100-percent-time|author=Teddy Allen|title="100 percent Wiley, 100 percent of the time"|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|accessdate=January 26, 2014; no longer on-line}}</ref> at the time of his death from a brief illness of [[pneumonia]] in January 2014 at the age of seventy-five at North Louisiana Medical Center in Ruston. Services were held on January 19 at the First [[Presbyterian]] Church in Ruston.<ref name=funeralarrangements>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/funeral-arrangements-set-for-louisiana-journalist-wiley-hilburn-jr/|title=Funeral Arrangements Set for Louisiana Journalist Wiley Hilburn, Jr.|publisher=710keel.com|accessdate=January 17, 2014}}</ref>Interment followed in the family plot at Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston.<ref name=hilburnobit/>​

In 2009, shortly before his retirement as the journalism department chairman, Hilburn underwent successful [[heart]] bypass surgery.<ref name=latech/>He had also been treated in recent months for [[cancer]], which had been in remission<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20140126/OPINION02/301260022/100-percent-Wiley-100-percent-time|author=Teddy Allen|title="100 percent Wiley, 100 percent of the time"|publisher=''The Monroe News Star''|accessdate=January 26, 2014; no longer on-line}}</ref> at the time of his death from a brief illness of [[pneumonia]] in January 2014 at the age of seventy-five at North Louisiana Medical Center in Ruston. Services were held on January 19 at the First [[Presbyterian]] Church in Ruston.<ref name=funeralarrangements>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/funeral-arrangements-set-for-louisiana-journalist-wiley-hilburn-jr/|title=Funeral Arrangements Set for Louisiana Journalist Wiley Hilburn, Jr.|publisher=710keel.com|accessdate=January 17, 2014}}</ref>Interment followed in the family plot at Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston.<ref name=hilburnobit/>​

Former Louisiana Tech President Dan Reneau described Hilburn as "top quality. I worked closely with him for many years. His greatest quality was his compassion and his ability to put it in words. This was a gift that he passed on to hundreds of his students.<ref name=funeralarrangements/>​

Former Louisiana Tech President Dan Reneau described Hilburn as "top quality. I worked closely with him for many years. His greatest quality was his compassion and his ability to put it in words. This was a gift that he passed on to hundreds of his students.<ref name=funeralarrangements/>​

On the day of his funeral, Hilburn's last column, another attempt to debunk the existence of black panthers in Louisiana, was carried in ''The 'Monroe News-Star.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20140119/OPINION02/301190018/Wiley-Hilburn-Column-Black-panthers-Bigfoot|title=Wiley Hilburn Column: Black panthers and Bigfoot|date=January 19, 2014|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|accessdate=January 19, 2014; no longer on-line}}</ref>​

On the day of his funeral, Hilburn's last column, another attempt to debunk the existence of black panthers in Louisiana, was carried in ''The 'Monroe News-Star.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20140119/OPINION02/301190018/Wiley-Hilburn-Column-Black-panthers-Bigfoot|title=Wiley Hilburn Column: Black panthers and Bigfoot|date=January 19, 2014|publisher=''The Monroe News Star''|accessdate=January 19, 2014; no longer on-line}}</ref>​

==References==

==References==