In Memory

Donald Hall

Donald Hall

 Donald passed away on January 26, 2007 with cancer.  He resided in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Donald is survived by his wife, Debbie and 5 daughters.  He also has an older brother who resides in the Bloomington Area.



 
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02/23/11 07:17 AM #1    

Catherine Rust

 FROM BOB JOHNSON:

 

 I meet Don in Sunday School in the 7th grade when he and his family moved to Bloomington and joined Park United Methodist Church. We became good friends and participated in church youth activities through high school. During the summer we would play tennis at the BHS courts and Chess when it was too hot to be outside. He had a sharp, dry wit and just to bug me, he became a Mets fan in 1969 as I rooted for the Cubs. Our junior year I recruited Don to be the Manager for the BHS Wrestling Team. He was the Manager our senior year too. He went to college in Missouri and got his degree in Computer Science. After college he went to work for a large trucking firm in Fort Smith, Arkansas and became in charge of their computer system. He met his wife, Debbie, at college and they married soon after graduating. They had five daughters. We kept in touch and he used to email me jokes. He was a really nice person. It is a real shame that he is gone. 


08/25/21 11:58 PM #2    

Robert Johnson

I am in contact with Don's widow, Debbie, and asked her if she would like to provide an update about her family that I could share here in the In Memory section. She provided the following information for me to share. Since Don passed away in January of 2007, three daughters have gotten married and there are now a total of 7 grandchildren. Three of the grandchildren are in Fayetteville and three are in Fort Smith, where Debbie lives. One of the grandchildren is in Florida and all of the family enjoys visits to Florida. Debbie and her family still visit Bloomington. Don's older brother, David, lives in Bloomington. 

 

 


08/26/21 09:57 PM #3    

Michael Laffey

Thanks for the update, Bob


08/27/21 11:53 AM #4    

Barbara Schmidt (Wood)

I'm glad to hear about Don's family and I know how proud he would be of his grandchildren.  I remember his older brother David and his parents from our years in the Park Church family, but didn't know that David was still living in Bloomington.  Don was reserved but always thinking and taking everything in.  I wish I could have known him as an adult, but we moved away and it was not to be . Thank you for keeping in touch with his family and posting this, Don Johnson !  


08/27/21 01:08 PM #5    

Marcia Spitznass (Lopez)

So many people I didn't know.  I wish I knew more kids from our class❣️ I knew who Donald was, but I wish I would have known him personally❣️ 


08/28/21 11:27 AM #6    

Robert Johnson

I was fortunate to be able to keep in touch and occasionally see Don through the years, mostly because our parents were very good friends. If I was making a visit to Bloomington, my parents would let me know if they had heard that Don was going to be in town then too. This usually happened around Christmas time. Don's wife, Debbie, was from the St. Louis area. They would drive from Arkansas to St. Louis to see her relatives and then come up to Bloomington. If I was in town at the same time, I would drop by to see Don and his family at his parents' house. I also got to see Don on at least three occasions that I can remember, maybe more, when he would have a business trip to San Francisco. Don was in charge of the computer system for a large, national trucking company, which is based in Arkansas.  He would visit California to attend meetings at an IBM facility in San Jose. He would stay at a hotel in San Francisco. I lived in San Francisco the first time he visited and Livermore, where I have lived since 1989, is only about 40 miles from San Francisco. Each time he visited I would take him around to see the sites in San Francisco and we would have dinner.  On at least two trips he had 2 or 3 co-workers with him and we all went out together. I enjoy being the tour guide when friends and family visit. On Don's first visit I took him for a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a pedestrian walkway across the bridge. We walked to about the middle and back. The view from there of the City and the Bay is amazing. And while on the bridge you can feel and hear the rumble of the traffic and maybe get to watch a huge cargo ship pass underneath. Don really enjoyed walking on the bridge. On each of his following visits he would always request that we go there. It was one of his favorite things to do while in San Francisco. On one trip he came in on a weekend and stayed at my house in Livermore on Saturday night. The next morning we went to church. After the service I introduced Don to our pastor and mentioned that Don was a PK (pastor's kid). That led to a fun conversation with some laughs between the pastor and Don, about the unique experience of being a PK. Don was a good friend and always fun to be around. I still misss him a lot.


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