George Hal Coble

With profound sadness and endless thanksgiving for a life well-lived, the family shares that George Hal Coble of Apex, NC passed away peacefully to his eternal heavenly home on Thursday, Sept 10, 2026, at the age of 97.

Hal was born on January 1, 1929, in Durham NC, the third son of Ernest Franklin Coble, Sr and Sallie Pearl Kelly Coble. The Depression years hit the family hard and they moved multiple times while his father was following jobs where he could find work in the construction business; they eventually settled in Monroe NC. Too many times to count, young Hal and his brother visited their maternal grandparents and extended family in nearby Rockingham, where the boys went hunting, fishing and worked on the family farm with their uncles, cousins and grandfather. This is when and where Hal grew to love the great outdoors and all that it had to offer!

He remembered listening to Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 8, 1941 (the day after the attack) tell of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. To this day, he has kept an old upholstered easy chair because that’s where he was sitting, as he listened to the rather frightening radio announcement that lead Congress to declare war on Japan, bringing the US into World War II. He would turn age thirteen just 3 weeks later. His father and brother would soon be deployed overseas.

George Hal grew up going to church, especially since his mother played hymns by ear, on the piano during Sunday Service for many years. He was baptized at Monroe Baptist Church and would become Quarterback and Captain of the football team at Monroe High School where he would graduate.

After the war, having lost family and friends, the family was blessed to be together again. His brother, “Erk” had survived multiple B-17 bomber missions and soon after, his sister, “Sis” was crowned Miss North Carolina/VFW. Hal joined the Air Force in 1951 as Active Duty and was honorably discharged after 2 years in 1953, just after the end of the Korean War. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and became a lifelong Tar Heel.

Hal met the love of his life, Betty Ann Haley, when he "saw her coming down the stairs" at the boarding house, as they lived across the street from each other on Clark Avenue in Raleigh. They were married in 1958 at Betty Ann’s childhood church, Ephesus Baptist Church in Cary. They lived in Kinston for a while where daughters Beth and Judy were born, and then in Blount’s Creek, NC, along the Pamlico Sound. Being at this site along the edge of the Pamlico River led to one of Hal’s most Thankful-to-God moments in his life, as a 3-year-old boy accidently fell out of a passing boat. Watching this from the shore, he ran to the river, dove in, and just barely caught the child’s ankle as he was being drawn deeper into the dark water’s undertow. He always clearly credited this as a miracle from God - just as the child’s mother did- for being there to save the child’s life that day. Hal said the water was so dark and murky he could not see the child underwater at all, but that he just kept grabbing and reaching until he happened to catch the child’s ankle just in time.

In 1963, Hal, Betty Ann, Beth & Judy moved to Betty Ann’s hometown of Cary NC. His Life Insurance business grew substantially, allowing him to be recognized as a member of the Million-Dollar Round Table many times over. In Cary, he was a founding member of the original (Tuesday lunch) Rotary Club and was a faithful member of Westwood Baptist Church for decades.

Hal loved hunting, fishing and simply being outdoors in nature as much as anyone ever has! He had many beloved dogs, a horse, Smokey, and the family had a multitude of animals- rabbit, crow, raccoon, turkey, chickens over the years and enjoyed every one of them. Hal hunted and killed more deer than he could ever count, and almost as many wild turkey. He killed the largest black bear on record in Beaufort County, 565 pounds!

He enjoyed old western movies with John Wayne and TV shows like Wild Kingdom & Lawrence Welk along with performers like Glen Campbell and especially funny story-tellers like Jerry Clower. The old music classics from those shows and movies became life-long favorites.

Hal gave new meaning to the saying: He never met a stranger. He could start a conversation with anyone, at any time, for any reason, often making friends instantly. Because he truly never did meet a stranger; it didn’t matter if it was the “mailman” who happened to be a female, the trash collector, the business associate, one of his many hunting buddies, family, the waiter/waitress at the restaurant, the check-out girl at Food Lion or any of his multi-millionaire clients; he treated each and every one of them exactly the same. And it seemed like all of them appreciated that about him. During his later years, at the end of the conversation he’d usually say: “I’ve got some good news for you!” The person would of course say, “Oh really, what’s that?” And Hal would say, “God Loves You!”

George Hal was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Betty Ann Haley Coble, his parents and older brother & sister.

He is survived by his daughters Beth Donner (husband, Patrick) and Judy Keadle (husband, John). Grandchildren include Beth's two sons, Brandon Dixon and Patrick Donner Jr. “PJ” and Judy's three daughters, Tracy Smith (husband, Dustin), Beverly Martin (husband, Brian) and Jasmine Carter (husband, Bobby). Hal had five adorable great-grandchildren: Ransom, Raleigh, Briar, Ivy and Jasper.

The entire family was frequently reminded that "none of this would have ever happened if I hadn't seen Betty Ann coming down those stairs”.

His life was also blessed with rich interaction with many uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews. The families gathered frequently, blessing one another with kindness and compassion and sharing their lives and laughter, reflecting their devout North Carolina heritage. He loved his family and friends beyond measure.

George Hal Coble was the best friend, best Daddy and best PaPa anybody could ever ask for! May God Bless Him Forever!