Milton Johnny "Bill" Hall

Milton Johnny (Bill) Hall, age 97, passed from this life to his heavenly home on September 17, 2026. He was comforted in his final days and hours by the presence of his children and grandchildren.

Bill was born on December 10, 1928, at his grandparents’ family home in Nashville, Georgia. He was the younger son of Roy M. and Verdie Barber Hall. He had one brother, James Mabrey Hall. The family moved to Miami, Florida when he was two years old. Miami remained his home until his retirement in 1983. He attended Andrew Jackson High School where he formed numerous life-long friendships, including his beloved wife Evelyn, with whom he celebrated his 77th Anniversary prior to her death earlier this year. Together they raised four children.

Bill spent his childhood during the Great Depression and his youth during World War II, twin crucibles that formed the Greatest Generation. As a child he learned the value of hard work and to be frugal with what he earned. He worked summers on his grandfather’s farm in the blistering South Georgia heat, picking cotton or tending to tobacco plants. He earned a penny an hour. On Saturday, he would help to hitch the wagon and mules for a 7-mile ride to town to enjoy a movie or some ice cream -- the reward for his hard labor.

In Miami, he hunted for rabbits in the Everglades with his brother and dad, bagging 150 to 200 each trip, and then selling them back in town at two-for-25-cents. At the age of seven, he was given his first rifle, and he drove his father’s Model T for the first time on one of those hunting trips.

Bill was not yet thirteen when Pearl Harbor was attacked and war was declared on Japan, and then Germany. He father enlisted at the outset, followed soon after by his older brother Mabrey. He took his first job making Venetian blinds at 14 years old, to help his mother who struggled to make ends meet. He was managing that shop before he turned sixteen.

He saved enough money to buy his first car so he could make deliveries for the shop. That car got him elected Treasurer of his class because he was the only one who could drive himself to the bank. During the war, cars were driven on retreads, at best. New tires were not available. On Labor Day 1945, he drove a car full of friends to the beach. They patched four flat tires on the way. The fifth time, the tire was not repairable, so he drove back on three tires with his buddies on the running boards opposite the flat. They made it back to Allapattah.

Hard work, frugality, ingenuity. These would shape him for a lifetime.

He often drove his friends to ball games, school, and church events. He first met Evelyn when she was part of the Methodist church group. Their first date was almost accidental. Bill was headed to his Senior Class Dance without a date when he encountered Evelyn, a sophomore, at the door. He decided to invite her to be his date. They danced to “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”. It became their song. That night, they became a couple for life. They married in 1948, shortly after her graduation. They celebrated their 77th anniversary in September of last year.

Bill served in the US Navy, joining the Reserve in 1948 for a four-year commitment. When the Korean War broke out, the federal government instituted a draft and Bill’s number was selected to join the Army. He was allowed to go on active duty with the Navy but had to first be discharged from the Reserves and then sign on for a new four-year tour. He trained on the Battleship USS Missouri and later served on the USS Salinan, an ocean-going tug with 85 men aboard. He was stationed in Key West, where housing was provided for Evelyn and John in a metal Quonset hut. John spent the first year of his life on the Navy base. Bill rose to the rank of Quartermaster, responsible for navigation, ship control, and visual communication. In 1954, he received his second naval discharge papers. He often bragged about that oddity in his later years.

In 1952, when Evelyn became pregnant with their first child, John, they purchased a house in a new suburban subdivision in North Miami (aka, South Jacksonville). In 1954, when his naval service ended, they lived there together with Evelyn’s sister Dee and her husband Jim Rogers, who was a City of Miami firefighter. Ironically, Dee nearly burned down the house on the day John was being brought home from Jackson Hospital when a grease fire started in the oven. Jim was quick to toss the flaming pan out the back door, nearly hitting the next door neighbor innocently, tending to his yard. Jim encouraged Bill to join the fire department. Bill was at first reluctant, having no interest in a job where you sit around all day waiting for a bell to ring. With Evelyn’s encouragement, Bill did join the department, and they never regretted that choice.

Aside from that one-year stint on the Navy base, Evelyn and Bill raised their four children in North Miami. They were determined that their children would have a secure and stable home life, unlike what they had experienced. Although Evelyn had worked until John was born, they decided she would be a stay-at-home mom, always there to nurture their four children. Bill was the sole breadwinner. Firemen work a 24-hour shift and then have two days off. Like most firemen, Bill worked off-duty jobs. Often, he had three jobs. Still a hard worker, still frugal by necessity.

Despite his work schedule, he was there for his family, attending church on Sunday and Wednesday, school events, games, and family outings. He served as a leader in the Royal Ambassadors, or RAs, our church’s version of the Boy Scouts. The RA campouts were legendary.

Lisa recalls a family camping trip when dad suddenly disappeared while cooking breakfast. He showed up a few minutes later, soaking wet. We all looked at him, wondering what was going on. He had just saved a child who was drowning in the lake, but he was nonchalant, like it was nothing. That’s what true (unsung) heroes do.

When John was in second grade, he took time from his busy schedule to make a Career Day presentation to John’s class. He dressed in his rubber boots, bunker coat, and fire helmet. He talked about how each piece of equipment served to protect the firefighter. There’s nothing better when you’re in second grade than having a dad who’s a firefighter. More than a decade later, a new recruit visited his station. In a dinnertime conversation, Bill asked when he decided to become a firefighter. The recruit told about a career day presentation when he was in second grade and how, from that moment on, he knew he wanted to be a fireman. His name is Mike Jones. He was in John’s second grade class. Little did he know that his visit to John’s class would change someone’s life.

Tim recalls a story from his high school years. “I made a bad decision and experimented a little too heavily with alcohol (cheap wine). Dad spent half the night trying to find me. He eventually spotted me passed out on a friend’s lawn. The next morning after a couple of hours sleep, he woke me up bright and early to take me to work on a construction job with him. I waited all day for the lecture, but it never came. He barely said a word to me. His silence spoke volumes. I’ve been a laborer for most of my adult life, but I believe that was the hardest day of work I’ve ever experienced.”

Bill served in City of Miami Fire Department for 30 years, five years as a firefighter, ten as a chief’s aide, and the remainder as a lieutenant in command of Station 12 in Allapattah, the neighborhood where he grew up. His crew at Station 12 consisted of three young men about the age of his sons. He served as a father figure. As testament to his mentorship, they each visited him in Highlands many times over the years. Richard Strosnider “Stro” was one of eight names on his speed dial at Chestnut Hill. In Bill’s words, “I had the best crew in the fire department. We answered over 3,500 alarms a year at Station 12, third highest in the nation. My crew had four paramedics, with all of us trained by Jackson Memorial Hospital doctors. We acted as a rescue truck, responding to shootings, accidents, heart attacks, strokes, as well as fires.” The City of Miami pioneered the fire department rescue service, and Bill was one of those pioneers.

Bill first visited Highlands in the late 1940s and fell in love with the area. He and Evelyn purchased a parcel of land in Horse Cove in the mid-1950s and had a small vacation home dried in by 1960. The family enjoyed vacations in Horse Cove for the next 23 years. Those were working vacations for the first decade as Bill (and family) finished work on the home. Some years, Evelyn and the kids spent the entire summer vacation in Highlands, while Bill worked back home in Miami. After his retirement in 1983, he and Evelyn moved to Highlands to live in the mountains full time.

His was an active retirement. He nearly doubled the size of his house and built a twenty-four foot square barn/workshop, essentially by himself. Both structures were two stories, which presented some challenges for a man working alone, but he always found a way. Frugal, hardworking, and ingenious.

He amassed an enviable collection of woodworking tools in his barn. Over the years he built foot bridges, sheds, pump houses, house decks, and furniture in that barn. He cut, molded, finished, and installed staircases, baseboards, and door and window trim for John’s house in Horse Cove. He made walking sticks, picture frames, vases, pencil holders, recipe boxes, cutting boards, bowls, banks, birdhouses, games, toys, and crafts for friends and family. Amy recalls that she got her first sales experience at mom and dad’s booth at a craft fair demonstrating his mountain buzz saw to people who came by. In the last month of his life, he asked for a saw and a drill to build a shelf in his apartment at Chestnut Hill. (He didn’t get them.)

He made wooden cradles for each of his children when they first became parents. When Amy’s cradle was burned in a house fire, he salvaged wood from it to create a frame for a treasured cross-stitch that had been made by Grammy. The words on that cross-stitch, “This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” He made beauty from ashes.

Bill and Evelyn enjoyed traveling and retirement gave them the opportunity. They traveled to all fifty states, mostly by car. They enjoyed cruises in Alaska and in the Caribbean. They toured Europe together. But their favorite place in the world was their home in Horse Cove, where Bill worked in his woodworking shop and together, they planted gardens worthy of the Biltmore Estate.

In 1996, sixteen years into his retirement, Bill went on a mission trip, along with son John and grandson Andrew, to a remote area of the Dominican Republic to help build a church – in July – in the hot Caribbean sun. On arrival, the group learned that the local foreman had to leave due to a death in the family. The first day was chaos. The unskilled work crew with sketchy plans, no power, limited tools, and scant materials had to find a way to get the job done. This was a situation that fit Bill’s skill set well. He and David Lasseter were charged with getting the concrete columns formed, reinforced, and poured. They made plans, scavenged the necessary wood and hardware, and accomplished the task. Frugal, hardworking, and ingenious.

He and Evelyn quickly engaged with the Highlands community. They became active in their church. He built libraries at The Bascom and at Community Bible Church, maintained the roadway for the Horse Cove Road Association, built sets for the Highlands Playhouse, helped build a home for Habitat for Humanity, and volunteered at the Eckerd Living Center and the Highlands United Methodist Church Food Pantry, among many other organizations. Bill lived to serve others. Witness a few of the testimonies from his friends and neighbors:

• He was a fine representative of the Greatest Generation.

• Such a kind and good man. He made the world a better place.

• Bill was an amazing person.

• What a wonderfully sweet, kind, accomplished and giving man we have lost -- one of the truly "good ones."

• Your parents helped us in so many ways and on so many different occasions.

• What a VERY DEAR father, grandfather, friend, and neighbor. A godly man who will NOT be forgotten.

• Some of the lessons I learned from observing your father: Be kind, be helpful, be frugal, be organized, be practical, stay busy, take care of your tools, keep things simple, and let your wife do all the talking.

• Yup, they don’t make them like they used to.

• When you’re the only one available to fix what seems impossible, just get up and do it!

Bill’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren called him Grandpa. He was very present in their lives, especially when families would visit in the summer. He welcomed them into his home and spent time with them in the workshop and in the yard, hiking, exploring, picking berries, and making jam. He loved sharing stories and teaching. He’d spend hours looking at photo albums and news articles of his time in the fire department. He taught them how to build the perfect fire in his fireplace. He spent time in the barn with each of them, teaching them how to make things with their own hands and imaginations. Those things are more than objects now; they are precious pieces of time spent with him.

He and Grammy never let a Sunday pass without bringing their grandchildren to church. His steadfast faith and life were a testimony of God’s love. Amy recalls that, “The most important thing about Grandpa to me was his faith. He began every prayer before every meal with, “Thank you for today, and for our time together.” That simple prayer has stayed with me. He was grateful not just for the food, but for the people gathered around the table and for the time God had given us together.” She also remembers fondly that she “loved standing next to Grandpa at church and hearing his deep baritone voice singing the hymns. One of my favorite services was always the Fourth of July service when they would sing the Armed Forces Medley. Grandpa would stand humbly when they reached the Navy verse.”

Around the time that COVID forced them into isolation in 2020, Evelyn and Bill both began to face some physical challenges. With the dedicated assistance of Hanna Bekajdari, they were able to live in their own home until August of last year, when they moved together to an apartment at the Chestnut Hill assisted living center in Highlands. Evelyn and Bill were grateful to Tammy Nelson and her dedicated, skilled, and caring team at Chestnut Hill for their outstanding support in their challenging last months. Bill’s caregivers not only tended to his physical needs but patiently listened to his stories and engaged him in activities that gave him something to look forward to each day.

Bill’s favorite scriptures were Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (There is an appointed time for everything); Proverbs 3:5-6 (Trust in the Lord); and Philippians 4:4-9 (Rejoice in the Lord). The theological lesson in these passages is that life will have its highs and lows; that we won’t always understand but if we trust in the Lord, He will direct us; and He will give us a peace beyond our ability to comprehend.

Bill had a firm and lasting belief in Jesus Christ as his Savior and the Lord of his life. He did not impose his beliefs on others, but he lived it every day. His strength, patience, sacrifice, and service to others were his testimony. This is his ultimate teachable moment. He would want his friends and family to know, if they only believe the simple truth that Jesus died on a cross for them, they will spend eternity with Him in paradise, where Bill is now.

Bill was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, sailor, fireman, neighbor, and friend. He treasured the family he and Evelyn established and he was blessed to be able to mentor so many generations with his skill, wisdom, and love. All who knew him were equally blessed.

Bill is survived by his children John Richard Hall (Susan), Timothy Mark Hall (Nancy), Daniel Bruce Hall (Angela), and Lisa Marie Hall (Allan); his daughter-in-law Kathy Sullivan; his grandchildren Andrew Hall, Angela Bailey (Stacey), Jenny Hall, Tyler Hall (Gabby), Amy McCartney (Matt), Daniel J Hall (Hanna), Joseph Hall (Heidi), and Bonnie Sanders (Chris); plus ten great-grandchildren, all of whom were a source of joy and pride in his life.

We will celebrate Bill’s life on Saturday, September 26th at 2:00 PM at Highlands United Methodist Church with Rev. Dr. Randy Lucas officiating. The family will receive friends at a reception following the service. He and Evelyn will be buried at the Horse Cove Cemetery at a future date.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift in Bill’s name to Highlands United Methodist Church, PO Box 1959, Highlands, NC 28747. Donations can be made online at https://www.highlandsmethodist.org/give.

The family welcomes your online expressions of sympathy and reflection at www.bryantgrantfuneralhome.com.

Bryant-Grant Funeral Home is honored to serve the Hall family.