Tina Hills, ‘part of Miami and Puerto Rican history in the 20th Century,’ dies at 103
Argentina “Tina” Schifano Hills, an Italian grand dame and New York University-educated newspaper executive and international philanthropist, died Tuesday in Miami at 103 — just 11 days before her 104th birthday.
Hills, namesake of Bayfront Park’s The Tina Hills Pavilion and The Lee & Tina Hills Playground, had married and survived two major figures in the hemisphere’s journalism ecosystem, said Alberto Ibargüen, the former Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald publisher and former Knight Foundation president.
She married Angel Ramos in 1950, owner and publisher of Puerto Rico’s El Mundo. After his death in 1960 at 58, she wed Lee Hills in 1963.
Lee Hills was an editor who had led the Miami Herald to its first Pulitzer Prize in 1951 and was instrumental in the creation of what became the Knight Foundation. He later presided as chairman of Knight Ridder, the Miami-based newspaper chain that once owned the Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other top newspapers across the country.
Lee Hills died in Miami in 2000 at 93. At the time, Tina told the newspaper her husband was multifaceted, a community leader, an art lover — interests she, too, embraced. She supported downtown Miami’s Pérez Art Museum, for instance.
“But he always said that the best thing was to be a reporter, and a good one. That was his love,” she said.
Roles in journalism
“As big as Tina’s husbands were in journalism and in this part of the world, Tina was at their side and engaged in press and social matters, chairing the Angel Ramos Foundation — Puerto Rico’s biggest private foundation — until just a few years ago,” said Ibargüen, who retired as president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in 2023.
Hills was the first woman to head the InterAmerican Press Association in 1977, succeeding leaders including John S. Knight and her husband Lee and preceding James B. McClatchy. The McClatchy Company, the California-based newspaper chain, bought Knight Ridder in 2006.
She “did it during the heyday of the organization, fully up to the task with her nearly-regal, grand bearing, her sharp wit, tenacity and intelligence,” said Ibargüen. Only one other woman has led the IAPA — the Washington Post’s Diana Daniels in 2005.
Family matriarch
Hills was born in Pola, Italy, on Oct. 4, 1921, the eldest of five children born to Vincenzo Schifano and Argentina Tomat. She came to the U.S. with her parents at 14, her youngest sister Annamaria Forcier, 82, told the Miami Herald from her home in Boca Raton. All of the siblings spoke fluent Italian.
Only two sisters survive her, Forcier and Adriana Caliari.
“She was basically the matriarch,” Forcier said. “After my parents passed away, she continued her role as being the matriarch.
“I will tell you the most wonderful thing about my sister was her tremendous generosity in every way. She kept the entire family together. She was always interested in what everyone was doing — from one generation to the next.”
David Lawrence Jr., retired publisher of the Miami Herald and chair of The Children’s Movement of Florida, first met Tina Hills in the fall of 1971 when he was the executive editor of The Charlotte Observer.
“She entered the room with Lee Hills, a great leader of 20th century journalism. Actually, she rather swept into the room — elegant and gracious. I’ve known and admired her ever since. She herself was a significant leader in journalism and the arts,” Lawrence said.
“Tina grew up in the Great Depression — knowing both the reality of sparse and stretched resources as well as movie escapism personified in the elegant gowns of Ginger Rogers. She learned English when she came to this country. Spanish came with her marriage to Angel Ramos. She also learned Esperanto, once thought to be a language that would transcend nationality and promote peace,” Lawrence said, celebrating another admirable trait.
She was a lifelong learner.
“She had beautiful marriages to two achieving men. That led to memorable meetings with the likes of Luis Munoz Marin, Henry Ford II, Katharine Graham, presidents Kennedy and Nixon and Reagan. Danced with Lyndon Johnson and Kennedy family patriarch Joe Kennedy. Sat alongside the brilliant Henry Kissinger. She was the exemplar of graciousness to everyone. A superb listener, but with much of depth and wisdom to say,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence’s Herald successor, Ibargüen, offers a summation: “She’s part of Miami and Puerto Rican history in the mid to late 20th Century.”
Survivors, services
Hill’s survivors include her sisters Annamaria Forcier and Adriana Caliari; stepson Ronald Hills and two step-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.
A wake is scheduled at 5:15 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, at Caballero Rivero Westchester, 8200 Bird Rd. Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at Church of the Little Flower, 2711 Indian Mound Trail, Coral Gables. Hill’s family requests donations in her memory to The Children’s Movement of Florida online or mail to 3250 SW Third Ave., Miami, Florida 33129.
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 4:18 PM.
