Elmo Murray Hall

Dr. Elmo Hall passed from this life May 13, 2014, in Cushing, Oklahoma, surrounded by his loving family. He was born August 2, 1930, in Fulton County, Arkansas, to Claude Delmos and Lena Pleasant (Collins) Hall.

The family moved to the San Joaquin Valley, California, where Elmo attended elementary school and two years of high school. They returned to Arkansas and Elmo graduated from Mammoth Spring High School.

He attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, where he met the

love of his life, Anita Jackson. They were married August 10, 1951.

He earned his B.A. degree from Harding in 1953, a master’s degree from Texas Christian University in 1965, and a doctorate from Oklahoma State University in 1977.

He began preaching in his early 20s and preached at congregations in Arkansas, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. Even after he began his career in college teaching, he continued preaching on Sundays and held meetings in various parts of the United States.

As a deacon of the Memorial Road Church of Christ, he led a local church plant at Newcastle, Oklahoma, and continued preaching there for ten years. For many years, he led mission campaigns to Belize, Trinidad, and Grenada. He participated in teaching missions in Africa and Poland. Elmo was a scholarly Bible class teacher. He also had a special talent for visiting the sick, and was welcomed by both patients and families.

He began teaching at Fort Worth Christian College in 1959, and then taught English and literature classes at Oklahoma Christian from 1967 until his retirement in 1996. He was honored as Professor Emeritus and continued as an adjunct professor.

As Stafford North mentioned in the on-line OC news, “ Elmo was fully dedicated to his work, which he considered work for the Lord – whether that work was preaching, teaching a Bible class, teaching English, or leading a group on a mission trip.”

He also was integrally involved in campus life beyond the classroom. He was a longtime public address announcer for OC basketball games, frequently assisted with alumni callouts, and served as an entertaining host and performer for OC’s First Week Follies program.

He was an accomplished scholar and leader. For many years, he was the OC sponsor of the OSLEP programs conducted by the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education to introduce students to the world of scholarship. In 1979, Oklahoma Christian honored Elmo with the Merrick Award, presented annually to a faculty member who demonstrates outstanding efforts in teaching the principles of free enterprise. He and Frank Davis directed student seminars for the American Citizenship Center housed on the OC campus. In 1982, he represented Oklahoma Christian at Rice University as the recipient of a prestigious Carnegie-Mellon Fellowship. In 1993, he received OC’s Faculty Leadership Award for distinguished leadership as a professor.

Elmo loved playing basketball, often playing in OC’s noon league. He also played softball. C.S. Lewis, one of his favorite writers, was the subject of courses he taught for several years. OC began presenting the Elmo Hall Award to students for essays in their C.S. Lewis studies. Loving discussion, Elmo would argue any topic and enjoy the outcome.

He leaves to cherish his memory:

his daughter, Janet Hall of Edmond, Oklahoma; daughter Teresa Wilguess and her husband, John, of Oklahoma City; two grandchildren, Victoria and Landon Wilguess of Oklahoma City; brother Leonard Hall and his wife Bonnie of Edmond, Oklahoma; Lehman Hall and his wife Robyn of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Richard Hall and his wife Teull Ann of Fort Worth, Texas.

He was predeceased by his parents, his infant twin sister, his wife Anita Jackson Hall, and his daughter Shari Lynn Hall.