Rev. George Blodgett Stuart Hale

Fr. Hale was born in Bristol, Virginia on April 15, 1920. He was educated at Southwestern College in Memphis, TN (now Rhodes University) and obtained a master’s degree in Divinity at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN.

After he was ordained to the Diaconate on March 21, 1945, he was assigned to assist Fr. Henry Keller at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Johnson City, TN and St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Elizabethton, TN. There he met his future wife, Carolyn Ann Sharp, and they were married at St. John’s Church in Johnson City, TN on September 5, 1947.

During his tenure at St. Thomas Church in Elizabethton, TN, he also founded the Episcopal Church in Mountain City, TN. After his ordination to the priesthood on May 22, 1946, he served under his father, the Rev. Dr. Charles Stuart Hale at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. In his residency in Memphis, he founded two Episcopal Churches: St. Edward’s Church (now part of Holy Trinity Church) and Christ Church in Whitehaven, TN. He and his father also founded Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Day School.

In 1956, he moved to Raleigh, NC as the first rector of St. Saviour’s Church on Glenwood Avenue. In June, 1957, St. Saviour’s changed its name to St. Timothy’s Church and moved the church to a new location on Six Forks Road. The first service was held in the parish hall on Christmas Eve of 1957. On Christmas Eve in 1959, the first service was held in the church building.

Fr. and Mrs. Hale founded St. Timothy’s School in September 1958 and began the high school on White Oak Road in 1972. The parents petitioned that the new high school be named for Fr. Hale and it was Fr. Hale High School until 2003. St. Timothy’s School was the first private day school to be accredited by the State of North Carolina and was also accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

During his retirement, Fr. Hale served as an associate priest to the Rev. Diane Corlett, rector of Church of the Nativity in Raleigh, NC. In May of 2003, Fr. and Mrs. Hale were honored at St. Timothy’s School on its 45th anniversary. They were awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by the Governor of North Carolina. For St. Timothy’s School’s 50th anniversary, Fr. and Mrs. Hale were honored at a special service and reception on Sunday, November 4, 2007 and at a special dinner at the Carolina Country Club on May 3, 2008 with over 450 parents, alumni, and faculty members attending.

Fr. Hale was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Jamestowne Society. He served both organizations as the North Carolina State Chaplain for many years. After his retirement from St. Timothy’s Church in 1992, he began to write books about his life, the churches he started and served, and the schools he founded. He wrote While I Still Remember, Before I Forget, Meandering, and finally, Bits and Pieces. Mrs. Betty Bowman, the former historian of St. Timothy’s Church, helped him with the editing and illustrations.

Fr. Hale spent quite a bit of time in his retirement years developing a natural garden setting in his woods, filling it with azaleas and spring flowers. During his years at St. Timothy’s and Hale High School, he also landscaped the grounds.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Ann Sharp Hale; by his daughter, Dr. Marcia Tracy Hale Russell of Winston-Salem, NC, and her husband, Dr. Wilson Glover Russell; by his two grandchildren, Virginia Wilson Russell of Dallas, TX, and Stuart Hale Russell and his wife, Marley Finch Russell, of Winston-Salem, NC; his nephew, Michael Hale of Ocean Spring, MS, and his nieces Tracy Hale Bell of Madison, MS, and Virginia Hale York of DeLand, FL.

Brown-Wynne Funeral Home on Millbrook Road is overseeing the memorial service and cremation. The service will be at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church on 4523 Six Fords Road, Raleigh, NC at 1:00 p.m. Monday, December 26, 2011.

The family requests that any donations in Fr. Hale’s honor be given to St. Timothy’s School and Church, and Church of the Nativity, or a charity of choice.