Victor M. Hall

June 24, 1919 to March 11, 2012

Victor Hall 92, died at his home in La Mesa on March 11th at 6:25 pm. He had recently been diagnosed with Bone Cancer. Vic was born in Belle Plaine, Kansas to Martin Townsend III & Blanche Williams Hall. He had a younger brother Max. Vic, as he preferred to be called, walked and hopped trains from depression ridden Kansas to the West Coast in 1940 and joined the US Army during WWII. On his train trip he often had to rely on the Salvation Army for shelter and food. He fell in love with San Diego and wrote his fiancée a letter telling her to come out here so they could get married or send him back the engagement ring! Vic & Mary were married in Point Loma, August 22, 1942! They had 4 children and 10 grandchildren and lived in Lemon Grove from 1950 to 1973. They moved to La Mesa in 1973. Mary passed away in 2006 just 6 days before their 64th wedding anniversary.

His interest in audio started in Bell Plaine, Kansas as a very young boy and built the first operational (crystal) radio in town. Vic was well known in the Audio industry. After the war he continued to educate himself in the field of audio as he did for the rest of his life. In 1946 he and his brother Max started Communications Company Inc. then later opened Meeting Services and Musical together, they worked alongside each other till Max passed away. He was a member of NECA, NSCA, IBEW, and AES, among many other organizations. Vic was one of a very few early members of AES (Audio Engineering Society) that did not have a PhD. Normally non-degreed individuals simply were not invited to participate in that organization. He was known for working and designing the sound system for the Long Beach Grand Prix (which he was an original shareholder) and Las Vegas Grand Prix and worked Long Beach Grand Prix personally into his early 80’s, that system at Long Beach continued to be used at racing events around the country for, at least, the following 25 years after he installed it. His companies also designed or serviced the sound systems at local favorites such as the Del Mar Fair, Hotel Del Coronado, Town & Country, S.D. Convention Center, Starlight, Civic, Old Globe, and Churches & Hotels too numerous to list. Vic was also instrumental in starting the Christmas Decorations in Balboa Park. He was a regular speaker at the sound/electronic conventions and taught classes in the evening for years at San Diego City College.

Many of Vic’s peers preferred to think of him as one of the greatest of the “great generation” that survived the Great Depression, won World War II, and returned to found successful businesses in their lifetime. The picture of a wealthy man standing under an umbrella in pouring down rain on a San Diego Street Corner ringing a Salvation Army bell personified the kind of man we knew as Vic Hall.

He was an active member of Kiwanis, serving on many committees and working diligently at their tree farm. Vic also was active with many, many civic organizations including Rotary and the Salvation Army. Vic served on too many panels, boards and committees of the above organizations to mention. He also continued to donate to numerous charities annually until his death. He was a leader for the Boy Scouts and later Explorer scouts for more than 25 years, hiking the entire John Muir Trial at least once and climbing Mt. Whitney 3 times. In 1972 he was given the Silver Beaver Award recognizing his many years of service to them. He organized and led numerous backpacking expeditions for scouts from the Mexican border through the peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Canadian border along the entire John Muir trail system. His love of the Sierra Nevada Mountains took his family there on regular summer vacations. This led him to buy a ‘cabin’ on Mt. Laguna which he actively maintained until he was 91. He rode his tractor mowing down weeds and moving boulders around until November 2010!

He started playing racquetball in 1964 and played regularly for over 30 years. He always stayed active and was often compared to the energizer bunny by family and friends. He loved country western music, dancing, traveling, cruises, camping, casinos, playing blackjack, live theater, holidays, overall life in general. He decorated his front window with decorations for every holiday and was the pumpkin man at Halloween! He always had a joke to tell and never forgot one! Vic and Mary loved to travel, camp, fish and dance. They also had a great love for Big Bands and Country Western Music.

Our immense respect for Vic Hall sprang from many encounters in business, training, sharing time at his ranch and the close personal relationship that grew from those encounters. His wisdom, common sense, true Americanism, morals and high ethical standards made him a resource we willingly listened to and took advice from. Vic Hall’s integrity was monumental. When challenged by a national manufacturer of audio equipment (his most profitable line) to make a choice between them and a competitor Vic chose the competitor because no one was going to limit his ability to provide the best audio system products and designs that he could provide for his clients. The manufacturer that he stayed with felt the same way and supported Communications Company the rest of Vic’s career.

He lived a very full life and enjoyed his last 5 years with his loving companion, Shirley Blachard. They did everything together and his family is very grateful that they found each other and enjoyed each others companionship.

Vic is survived by his sons Larry Martin Hall and Ronald Lee Hall and daughter Joyce Marie Johnston, 8 grandchildren & 10 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his loving companion Shirley Blanchard, since 2006. Vic and Shirley have been very close traveling companions and she cared for him through the illness of his final year. He was preceded in death by his wife Mary in 2006, their daughter Sharon Teresa Hall in 1993, son-in-law Richard Johnston in 2010 and his only brother Max Hall in 1994.

A Celebration of his Life will be held Monday April 2nd at 11 a.m. at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church, 8086 Broadway in Lemon Grove. A reception will follow in the church hall with a country western band and his favorite foods!

Donations can be sent in his name to any Cancer or Alzheimer’s research organizations.

Few men like Vic Hall are likely to be seen again. Few youngsters today will ever experience the hardships that led the pinnacle where Vic stood at the end, a genuine hero of a man in generation of heroes. We all felt privileged to have called Vic a friend. He enlarged all of us who had the privilege of knowing him.