Frances Hunt Hall, 100, a resident of Penick Village in Southern Pines, NC, died peacefully on January 18, 2020 at Penick Village.
Ms. Hall was born on July 14, 1919 in Panama City, Panama to Evelyn Franklin Hall and Ida Sue Hunt Hall. After her father died when she was three years of age, Ms. Hall and her mother moved to Zebulon, NC where she grew up.
Ms. Hall received her undergraduate degree in History from Woman’s College (now UNC-Greensboro). When World War II broke out, Ms. Hall enlisted in the WAVES (at that time the women’s branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve) and served honorably as a message coder and decoder during the war, rising to the rank of Lt. Commander when she left the service in 1954. Ms. Hall’s naval career was the subject of an inspiring and patriotic article on her life recently published in The Pilot newspaper on Veteran’s Day last year.
After her military service, Ms. Hall obtained a graduate degree in library science and a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. These studies led her to a long career as a law librarian, including service as the Law Librarian for the North Carolina Supreme Court in Raleigh, NC where she provided outstanding legal research support and services for the Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court as well as countless North Carolina attorneys who also used the Court’s law library. Ms. Hall was well known throughout the North Carolina judicial and legal community for her exceptional abilities as the law librarian for our State’s highest court.
After Ms. Hall’s retirement from the North Carolina Supreme Court, Ms. Hall retired to Penick Village where she enjoyed many years of active and independent living.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. at the Chapel at Penick Village, 500 E. Rhode Island Ave., Southern Pines, NC 28387.
A very special expression of gratitude goes out to Ms. Hall’s long-time caregivers who enabled Ms. Hall to maintain her active lifestyle up to the end of her long life: Betty Smith, Faye Smith, and Ella Smith.
Appreciation is also expressed to Penick Village for its care of Ms. Hall during her many years as a resident and to First Health Hospice for its loving care of Ms. Hall in the final week of her life.
Online condolences may be made at www.bolesfuneralhome.com
Services are entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines.
