Rory Anne Hiltner

A memorial service was held June 10, 2025, in Ohio for Rory Hiltner, 68, of Newark, Ohio, who passed away on June 1, 2025, the victim of a tragic vehicle accident. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

Born Rory Anne Musto on May 21, 1957, in Bridgeport, Conn., her parents were the late Guy Gerald and Mary Isabelle (Malley) Musto. She is survived by her husband, Don Hiltner; children: Nathan (Sarah), Danae, Justin, Samuel (Danielle), Benjamin “Jammer” (Rachel), and Addy; her two adored “littles” – her grandchildren – Jude and Kora; and her siblings Guy, Mary Anne “Maime” Kennedy (Kelly), and Sally Smith (Joe). In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Gary.

As a child, she overcame hardship to teach herself how to learn and become an independent and accomplished adult, despite an often remarkable lack of support. She graduated from Bishop Hannan High School in Scranton, Penn., her hometown, in 1975 before attending Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania for one year. She transferred to Marywood College, graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology in 1980. She achieved her Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from Ohio University in 1983.

That year, she met her future husband Don in a wedding party – Rory being a bridesmaid and Don being a groomsman. Though Don was living in Utah at the time, they established their relationship across the distance, writing each other, sharing long drives and profound, lengthy conversations, and falling in love. Together, they would build a life, grow a family, and set about doing their utmost to emulate Christ’s love in every facet of their 39 years of marriage.

Rory’s greatest achievements, by her own measure, were her children. She brought six vibrant, talented, and empathetic kids into the world, all of whom she would homeschool from preschool through high school. She was their biggest fan and cheerleader, traveling great distances to see her musical and intellectual children perform and excel in their areas of expertise from Test Pilot School to the Grand Ole Opry stage to state orchestra performances and more. The walls and shelves of her home are laden with their photos, drawings, creations, and found-glass art.

To everyone else, though, her most remarkable quality was her love her endless compassion, generosity, kindness, and ability to make folks feel so special, traits passed down to her from her beloved Nonie Rose and Aunt Cel – are often the first things her community and acquaintances would notice about her.

An excellent cook, she offered her renowned, homemade stromboli to everyone and anyone from pregnant friends across town to charitable auctions and from GRAMMY-winning artists to best-selling authors. Friends and neighbors looked forward to her holiday sweets and goodie bags every year.

Her joy, her love, and her selflessness touched hundreds and thousands of people across her life through scores of hugs, prayers, smiles, and dinners served. It’s this that will be her greatest legacy - that she strove with every fiber of her being to enact a family, a community, and a world she longed for, for all, and that she used all of her abilities to make that a lived, day-today reality for everyone she met.

To sign an online guest book, please visit www.brucker-kishlerfuneralhome. com.