Urs Hilfiker

Urs Peter Hilfiker of Rock Hall, Maryland died on August 19, 2004 at University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 59. Born in Switzerland on April 29, 1945, he was the son of Anna Hofstetter Hilfiker of Switzerland and the late Rudolph Hilfiker. He served in the Swiss Army as a demolitions expert. He studied architecture in Switzerland from 1963 until 1969 and he came to the United States in 1970 to work at the I.M. Pei firm in New York. He later moved to Philadelphia and opened his own firm, Hilfiker Design, in 1984. His passion for sailing drew him to the Chesapeake Bay and in 1995 he moved his practice to Rock Hall and established Hilfiker Architects. In the last five years he has completed over 50 projects in Kent County, and was affectionately known as “Rock Hall’s Architect”. His clients appreciated his creativity and ability to achieve beautiful solutions to tough design challenges. He was published in Interiors Magazine and Administrative Management Magazine where he received an award for innovative office design. A devoted father and husband, Urs was also appreciated by his friends for his quiet strength, his optimistic attitude, dry sense of humor, patience and his reassuring presence. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, Rock Hall Yacht Club, Liberty Yacht Club, St. Paul’s Parish Kent, Supporter of the Mainstay in Rock and Radcliffe School in Chestertown, MD. He was an expert sailor, loved to downhill ski the Swiss Alps with his daughter, Julia, and enjoyed hiking the Swiss Alps and exploring Eastern Neck Island. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife whom he married on December 22, 1990, Lynn Barrett Hilfiker; a daughter, Julia Hilfiker of Rock Hall, MD and a cousin, Monica Ettlin of Basel, Switzerland. Services will be held on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at 11:00 A.M. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestertown, MD. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Radcliffe Creek School, 201 Talbot Blvd., Chestertown, MD 21620. Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., Chestertown, MD.