George Arthur Hall

He was born on May 8, 1926, in Chicago. He was a businessman and entrepreneur.

In 1942 he enlisted in the Navy and spent the war years in the North Atlantic on battleships and destroyer escorts and worked in engine rooms.

After the war he returned to Chicago and formed the Veterans Cab Company with some of his military buddies. They converted the cabs to run on propane and opened a propane gas station to fill them. George continued converting gasoline engines to propane and eventually started a business that evolved into L.P. Gas Equipment in 1957. The company specialized in converting forklift truck engines to run on propane for indoor use.

While driving a cab he met Rita, who was a dispatcher. They married in September 1949 and had four children.

George loved to learn new things and pretty much taught himself to be a mechanical engineer. He always regretted not finishing high school, and in 1972 he passed his GED.

George and Rita traveled extensively and after several trips to Hawaii, they bought property on Pacific Heights in 1968. George moved the family to Honolulu in 1972 when he semi-retired.

Among George’s favorite stories were visiting Cuba in 1959 as Castro came to power; touring through Checkpoint Charlie into Communist-controlled East Berlin; walking along the Great Wall of China; visiting all seven continents; and flying in a MiG and breaking the sound barrier in post-Cold War Russia.

George also was a descendant of nine Mayflower passengers, including John Alden and Miles Standish. George was extremely proud of his Mayflower roots and joined the Hawaii Society of Mayflower Descendants. He was elected governor of the society for the first time in 1999.

George and Rita divorced in 2003. George married Gayle Snedeker on Valentine’s Day 2004. They set up house in Honolulu and George started his world travels over again with Gayle. He loved taking her places and showing her all the wonders he had discovered years earlier.

George is survived by wife Gayle; son Jeff (Ann Cassel) and daughter Kimm (Jeff) Bates; grandchildren, Rhiannon Nevarez, Rhea Hall, Kelsey Bates, Tim Bates and Melanie Bates; great-grandchildren, Joshua Hall, Isaac Nevarez and Cain Nevarez; nieces Kathy (Jerry) Piller and Jacki (Andy) Priester; and nephew Jack McGovern. He was predeceased by two sons, Steve in February 1971 and Craig in June 2013, and two sisters, Mary McGovern in 2006 and Clarice Gross in 2012.