DONALD HALL

Donald Hall, 79, of Kettle Falls, WA, passed away on Saturday, April 11, 2015 after a nearly year-long valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. He was born Sept. 28, 1935 to Myrle and Genevieve Hall on a farm near Brownville. 

  In 1938, his parents moved to a farm near Stella, where he attended a country school. In 1949 his parents moved to a farm near Shubert, where he graduated from high school. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1958 and was drafted into the Army two weeks after graduation. Most of his time in the service was spent at Ft. Lewis, WA, where he fell in love with the state of Washington. Upon his discharge, he worked for the Nebraska Dept. of Roads and, in 1961, met the love of his life, Marilyn, whom he married in 1963. That same year he went to work for a private developer. In 1967 he started working in the UNL Agronomy Dept., where he spent 32 years and received an Outstanding Achievement Award. He retired in 1999 and moved to Kettle Falls. 

He was a member of the Kettle Falls Rotary and was twice named Rotarian of the Year. He helped build no fewer than four Habitat Houses. In 2014, he resigned from the Kettle Falls Civil Service Commission after serving five years. 

Donald is survived by his wife, Marilyn; brother, Gary (Carolyn) Hall, of Omaha; sisters, Sandy (Tony) Bruning, of Lee’s Summit, MO, and Mary Conradt, of Torrance, CA; brother-in-law, John (Carol) Russell, of Henderson, NV; sister-in-law, Beverly (Larry) Oestmann, of Eagle; aunt, Deloris Stiers, of Nemaha; uncle, Tom (Marilyn) Urwin, of Blair; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. His last request was “Do not grieve for me, twas heaven here on earth with my beautiful wife Marilyn.” 

A Celebration of Life will be held at The Knolls Restaurant, 2201 Old Cheney Rd., in Lincoln on May 8. Doors will be open at 10:30 a.m. and lunch will be provided.