Our Staff

JOHN HILL is accompanied by his wife, Holly Baker Hill, and their two children, Haddie, age seven, and Emory, age four. Foundation ministries as well as the landscape of the Frio Canyon have provided profound and virtually lifelong influences upon John. John Hill is accompanied by his wife, Holly Baker Hill, and their two children, Haddie and Emory. During the year, John is the Executive Director for Laity Lodge Family Camp . . . where parents and families can experience camp together! The Foundation ministries, as well as the landscape of the Frio Canyon, have provided profound and virtually lifelong influences upon John. “I started attending LLYC when I was seven,” John said, “and returned every summer through college, either as a camper, volunteer, or counselor. The Canyon is where I accepted the Lord into my life and where I met my wife. When I was 16 and part of work crew, I met Holly who was also serving on work crew. Some years later, while we were overlooking Echo Valley from Antenna, I asked Holly to marry me. Our relationship and our family is rooted in this place and in the Foundation ministries.” John has a BBA from Southwestern University and an MDIV from Virginia Theological Seminary. John has served as Director of Program for Sky Ranch and Executive Director of Camps and Conferences for the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. John and his family returned from Melbourne, Australia, where John was Vicar of St. Paul’s Anglican Church. WOW! He’s really spiritual!!! He’s excited to be back in the Canyon and loving on our staff and campers.

Emily LOVES our LLYC parents and campers. She orchestrates the registration process, gets to bless campers with the news of scholarships, and fills camp with as many campers as possible. She finds great joy in parent contact and building those relationships throughout the year. This will mark Emily’s 8th summer with LLYC. Emily and Chastan, her husband (as of May 3 ... YAY!), live in Kerrville and enjoy most evenings and weekends hanging out with their nieces, Lulu, Jilian, Sarah Faith, and Gabby, their rockstar nephew, David Tyler, and their fun family! They have both lived in Kerrville their entire lives and pretty much know everyone! :) Emily graduated from Tivy High School and Schreiner University with a B.A. in Psychology. These days she can be found driving back and forth from Schreiner (again) finishing up some pre-reqs, working towards P.A. School (she really loves school). She loves medicine and people . . . so this is a perfect fit! Emily loves our campers and their parents well and has a deep desire to serve them. Her joy and love for life are contagious.

A long time ago, in a land far away, Mary Echols graduated (cum laude) from California State University Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Recreation and Leisure studies. Mary has had a wide variety of camping experience having worked in camps every summer since age 14. She first came to the H. E. Butt Foundation in 1983 with her husband, Glenn. She has worked as an Arts and Crafts director, Sugar Shack director, Kitchen director, and Program Services director at Laity Lodge Youth Camp, as well as serving as a Hostess at Laity Lodge. During the school year, she is a substitute teacher in Kerrville. Her husband, Glenn Echols, is the Director of Operations for the H. E. Butt Foundation Camp. Their son, Reid, is a sophomore at Baylor University and is looking forward to working some of the Family Camp weekends. Their daughter, Rylie, is a high school sophomore who looks forward to every weekend.

Tammy Soth, Director of Food Service