In Memory of William
A. Hall
By Greg Lynch, President, NY6
On March 24, 2004, our Club lost a member very dear to all who
knew him. William Austin Hall was an
architect of some repute, founder of the Hall Architectural Partnership and
with a family name so uniquely suited to his chosen profession. Bill became a member of the Club in
1981. His classification was
Professional Architect. When I first
joined the Club some ten years ago, i regularly ran into Bill on the way to
our, then Thursday, meetings. Bill was
well educated and well informed, particularly about the neighborhood we
shared. His practice was on
Bill Hall was a quiet, elegant gentleman. He was also a contributor to our Club
activities and to building our New York Rotary Foundation. Bill had been a Trustee of the Foundation and
shared an understanding and commitment to the service we, as New York
Rotarians, perform through the work of our Foundation.
In November 2003, I asked Bill to act as Chairman of our Club’s
Sunshine Committee, which acts as the good shepherd in reaching out to members
who may not be coming to lunches due to illness or otherwise. Sometime later, I received a most elegant
letter from Bill, saying he did not have my heart in the assignment. Only after the holidays, did I realize that
Bill himself was one of those who, because of his illness, required some
looking after. After that we spoke
regularly on the phone. Three weeks
before his passing, I had a brief chat with Bill at our regular luncheon
meeting. I could not have imagined then
that we were saying goodbye.
Greg Lynch
President
Rotary Club of
March 25, 2004