Donna Ann Hall

Donna Ann Hall, age 98, passed away of natural causes on December 10, 2022, in Salt Lake City, UT. Donna Ann was born July 6, 1924, in Rexburg, ID, to Emer Andrews Beesley and Grace Woodmansee Beesley. She was the youngest daughter of seven children.

Donna Ann attended grades 1-12 in Rexburg and graduated from Madison High School in 1942. After Donna Ann graduated high school, she attended and graduated from Nursing School at Pocatello General Hospital in Pocatello, ID, and became a Registered Nurse after passing the required exams in 1945. While in Nursing School, she worked at Pocatello General Hospital, Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, and Fort Lewis in Washington state. Donna Ann worked as an Industrial Nurse for Union Pacific Railroad until 1947. In 1947, Donna Ann returned to Rexburg. She worked as a Secretary at Taylor Chevrolet for two years, and was a Private Duty Nurse, and Red Cross Home Healthcare Instructor. Donna Ann went to work at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, ID, in 1951 when the hospital opened, and worked there for 29 years. She was a part of and helped with the hospital’s growth in size and services. She held several managerial/key positions and jokingly said she held every position in the hospital but cook. Donna Ann setup patient areas of the entire hospital, operating rooms, central service, and helped develop and open the orthopedic clinic. Donna Ann enjoyed the operating room and assisting with surgeries most of all. When Madison Memorial was expanded in 1978, Donna Ann helped in many areas of the new hospital with design and layout suggestions that were implemented, especially the operating rooms and supporting areas.

In 1980, Donna Ann made a big career move. As an experienced Registered Nurse, she applied and was accepted by Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. Donna Ann and Dave moved from Rexburg to Sunnyvale, CA. Donna Ann worked in all the medical departments at Stanford University Hospital. There were several medical specialties she had not worked in before, such as cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, to name a few. She enjoyed the rotation schedule through the different specialties and gaining additional surgical knowledge. Donna Ann worked for Stanford for ten years, then in 1990, Donna Ann and Dave retired. They moved to Tigard, OR, a suburb of Portland and lived there for 3 1/2 years, then moved to Bountiful, UT, in the spring of 1993. Donna Ann lived in Bountiful until December 2015, then she moved into independent living at a senior facility, Highland Cove, in Salt Lake City. She lived there until her death.

Donna Ann was always interested in learning. She would study books on surgical instruments and study the actual instruments to learn their uses and make her better as a Registered Nurse and an O.R. Nurse. All her life, Donna Ann took many classes both in nursing and other subjects. In 1984, Donna Ann earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Service Administration. With her knowledge and work experience, she helped develop and open the same day surgical center at Stanford University. Donna Ann was asked to travel with Interplast on five International Humanitarian Surgery Trips to Central and South Americas. (Interplast is a non-profit medical organization that performs life altering plastic surgeries on patients in third-world areas.) As part of all-volunteer medical teams, Donna Ann assisted with surgeries to repair children’s cleft palates and reconstructive surgeries on burn patients.

Donna Ann married David A. Hall on November 8, 1947, and had three children: David Geofrey Hall of San Francisco, CA, Ann Hall Williams (Jeffrey) of Salt Lake City, UT, and Cynthia Hall of San Jose, CA.

Donna Ann was preceded in death by her husband, Dave (2003), parents, siblings, and sisters- and brothers-in-law. Donna Ann’s siblings are Charles Beesley, Erma Nielson, Atheleen Peterson, Vilate Hooker, Gordon Beesley, and Robert Beesley. She is survived by her children, many nieces and nephews, and grand-nieces and nephews.

Services for Donna Ann will be held February 17, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 South Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah. A celebration of life will be held in Rexburg in the spring or summer of 2023 prior to her internment in the Burton Cemetery, near Rexburg, ID.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in memory of Donna Ann to the Humane Society of Utah, or the Utah Food Bank.