George Jolly Hall

George Jolly Hall, husband to Opal Onell Self Hall for 65 years until her death on December 2, 2013, passed away January 11, 2017. Uncle George was the son of Grant, Sr. & Mamie Elizabeth Jolly Hall (both deceased) and was born in Sampson County, NC on June 23, 1925. Uncle George will never be forgotten to those who knew and loved him.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 21, 2017 at Hanes Lineberry, 515 N. Elm Street, Greensboro, NC with the family receiving visitors from 11:00am - 12:30pm, and service at 1:00pm. Graveside Military Honors will be at Forest Lawn, 3310 Forest Lawn Drive, Greensboro, NC immediately following.

Uncle George graduated from Bessemer High School and as a teenager entered the U.S. Army August 2, 1943. During his enlistment, he was injured by gun fire 3 times, was the recipient of 2 Purple Hearts and 2 Bronze Stars. Military life took Uncle George to the battlefields of France and Germany where he received 2 Purple Hearts “For Wounds Received in Action” in France, 13 June 1944, “For Wounds Received in Action” near Pachten, Germany, 11 December 1944; 2 Bronze Stars for “Meritorious Achievement in Ground Operations Against the Enemy” on or about 1 July 1944; “For Heroism in Ground Combat” near Dillingen, Germany from 9 to 18 December 1944. Later Uncle George traveled to visit the fallen soldiers he had served with, stating many times, he did not deserve to return home because they had not.

Uncle George recounted his active duty as a need that had to be done. Once he received his honorable discharge on November 2, 1945, he used the G.I. Bill to attend North Carolina State University where he earned his degree as a Civil Engineer and then applied to the United States government for a

position that was given to him for the next 30 years under the U.S. Air Force. While there he was recognized for his exemplary contributions to our government. Uncle George was proud to have served his country as a soldier during World War II and desired to serve again for his country in the field of

infrastructure engineering. Uncle George received many acknowledgements for his faithful service to our government, went without close friends because he couldn’t talk about his work, traveled extensively as an engineer for our government and retired in 1985. At that time, he and Aunt Onell moved back to Greensboro, NC.

He loved to travel after retirement and his favorite trip was to Hawaii sometime in the ‘80’s. His high security clearance and protected secrets remained with Uncle George as he was extremely loyal, dedicated and faithful to his government. In the throes of having Alzheimer’s disease Uncle George never divulged one thing about his job with the Federal Government. Sworn to secrecy, even with dementia, when I would ask about his secret missions and projects, Uncle George gave me his quirky smile and said, “Nope, not gonna tell you where anything is, I made a promise.” True to his word Uncle George fulfilled that faithful promise and never told me or anyone about his classified work for the government and took all he knew and did to the grave.

Once Uncle George let you into his outer realm of trust he was a pure delight and shared some of his WWII adventures, his opinions and quick wit. Twenty minutes was usually the limit one had in these visits as that is all he would allow. If you pressed for more time Uncle George would say, “Don’t you need to be somewhere?” As our time over the past four years was more intimate our visits ranged from 5 minutes to nearly 2 hours. I was blessed to have gotten to know him as an adult.

Uncle George was a jokester and a flirt. He loved to watch people’s reactions to stories he would spin to see if you believed him or not; if you could tell he was joking he would let you in a little further into his circles of trust. Uncle George and Aunt Onell were parents to many dogs and cats throughout their 65 years together. They both loved flowers and beautiful things! Uncle George loved to read about all wars. If a book about war was printed, he read it. He also loved to watch movies and read all the Louis L’amour novels. When Aunt Onell was in skilled care for over 10 years Uncle George walked, and visited her every day and stayed with her through dinner coming back the next morning.

George Jolly Hall was brother to Charles Harding Hall (Deceased) who was married to Mollie Basden Hall, their children are Clifton Harding Hall (Nephew), Charles Richard Hall (Nephew) married to Janey Ruth Cheek Hall, their child is, Amber Leigh Hall Ray (grandniece), married to Sam Edward Ray, their children are Hunter Edward Ray (great grandnephew), Harrison William Ray, (great grandnephew), and Hudson Thomas Ray, (great grandnephew). George J Hall was also brother to Grant Hall, Jr. (Deceased), married to Mildred Lineberry Hall (Deceased), their children are Robert Grant Hall (Nephew) and Jean Elizabeth Hall Freeman (Niece), married to James Edward Freeman. George J. Hall was brother to his sister, Charlotte Hall Shepherd (Deceased), married to Howard Huey Shepherd, Jr. (Deceased) their children are Howard Huey Shepherd, III (Nephew), and Jane Shepherd Willingham (Niece) married to Charles Michael Willingham, their children are Joshua Willingham (grandnephew), and Jennifer Willingham Lane (grandniece) married to Jason Lane.

Being married to Onell Self Hall made George uncle to Patrick Crawford Self (Nephew) married to Diane Clark Self, their son Brian Self (grandnephew) and his daughter Haylee (great grandniece); Deborah Self Alexander (Niece) married to John Alexander (Deceased); David Anderson Self (Nephew) (Deceased) married to Cindy Self and their child is Colton Anderson Self (grandnephew); Karen Self Ball (Niece) married to Daniel Ball their children are Melanie Winfrey Munn (grandniece), Michalle (Missy) Hartley McPherson (grandniece) her children are Dreu, Nora, Izak and Isie McPherson, Gideon and Elijah Blankenship (great grand nieces and nephews); Stephen Tyree Rutledge (grandnephew) married to Julie Maloney Rutledge their daughter, is Meredith Ellen Rutledge

(great grandniece), Sebastian Daniel Ball (grandnephew) married to Serenity Cardin Ball their daughter is Katillina Lynne Ball (great grandniece); Amanda Self (Niece), Marian Self Savenko (Niece), married to Paul Savenko, children are Clinton Romberg (grandnephew) and Larissa Myers

(grandniece), married to Steven Myers.

Even though they were unable to have any children of their own, as you can see Uncle George has left behind a grand legacy in his family. Aunt Onell and Uncle George cared for us as if we were their own kids. Hopefully for many generations those related to Uncle George will be affected by his stand for truth, loyalty and doing what was right because it is the right thing to do.

Uncle George is from a strong, humble, faithful, respectful generation and he will always be remembered for all his Military and Civilian service to our country. Thank you, Uncle George. ‘Till we met again.

On line condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com.