William H. Hall ’49 died December 21, 2011.
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WILLIAM H. HALL ’49
Bill passed away Dec. 21, 2011, several days after suffering a stroke. He died peacefully in his sleep with Katherine “Kitty,” his wife of 58 years, and his children, Marion, Kathie, Bill, John and Tom, at his side. He also leaves six grandchildren and a niece, Susan Roberts, whom he said was like a daughter. Bill would have turned 88 on March 8, 2012.
After retiring from the textile industry, he and Kitty moved to Naples, Fla., settling in Pelican Bay. Bill was an active, almost daily swimmer and an excellent tennis player right up to the end. He enjoyed gardening and was an avid reader, his favorites being mysteries. They traveled extensively, seeing their children and grandchildren. They actively attended reunions at Amherst and alumni luncheons in Naples.
I met Bill during the summer of 1946. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943. Serving as a radio operator and gunner on B-24s in a squadron out of Italy, he earned a Bronze Star and Air Medal with an oak leaf cluster. Like many others of this brave generation, he returned to college to resume his life and pursue his education. We used the expressions “delicacy and kindness” and “tone” around the Theta Delt house in fun. These surely described Bill; he was blessed with a dry wit and keen sense of humor.
A memory of Bill that stands out above the rest was his organizing a group of us into attending a weekly tea at a widowed English lady’s home. We liked Bill’s rationale, which was, “Let’s set an hour or so aside away from the ribaldries of post-war college and discuss why we’re really here at Amherst.” I’m straining my memory, but I believe her husband had been a music professor at the college.
We’ll miss Bill’s gentle nature and good heart. His class extends its sympathies to Kitty and her entire family. We’ve said goodbye to another true friend.
—Henry J. Testa ’49