Trevor W. Hall Sr.

Hall, Trevor W. Sr. Trevor Hall Sr. of Winter Park, FL died Monday, November 10 in Winter Park, FL, after fighting Parkinson’s disease with incredible grace for more than 21 years. He was 90 years old. Born in Flint, Michigan, he was the son of Trevor Pearson Hall and Alva Beatrice Cady of Flint, Michigan. He graduated from Flint Central High School and attended General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) until his induction into the United States Navy. He served as a Naval Aviator during World War II flying TBF Avengers off carriers over the Atlantic. After the War, he completed his education on the GI Bill at Michigan State University earning a degree in Industrial Engineering. An entrepreneur, inventor, early proponent of civil rights and vocal opponent of the Viet Nam War, Hall owned Panel Engineering and Macotta Corporation, pre-cast concrete manufacturing companies, in the Detroit area. His employment practices were so fair that his workers refused to unionize. While there was substantial destruction around his plants during the Detroit race riots in 1967, his remained untouched because of his steadfast support of blacks. He engineered the first successful method of bonding decorative stone facings to pre-cast concrete panels for the exterior walls of buildings and held patents on it and other inventions. Hall worked with many important architects of the 20th century including Minoru Yamasaki and Eero Saarinen. Trevor Hall was deeply involved in the Episcopal Church, chaired the Diocesan Financial Committee and developed a pay package for the clergy of the Michigan Diocese that finally enabled them to build equity for their retirements by owning their own homes. It is the norm throughout the church today. He was a founding Board Member of the Detroit Industrial Mission, an ecumenical organization whose mission was to bring Christian values into the workplace across various industries. He formed and chaired the Mission’s construction industry task force that developed ethical standards for competitive bidding. Hall sold the company in 1970 just before the auto industry began to contract and moved to Central Florida in 1972, joining Florida Ranch Lands. He subsequently managed the highly successful Merrill Lynch CRE Orlando office and its successors, L. J. Hooker Commercial Real Estate and Lambert Smith Hampton Orlando (LHSO). He and his partners acquired LSHO, which he managed until it was sold to Pizzuti Realty and served as its Chairman of the Board of Advisors from 1992-1995 and Interim President in 1996. Later that year, he was named Chairman Emeritus at Realty Capital Advisors, a role he found especially rewarding. During the span of his commercial real estate career, he completed in excess of $500 million in real property sales. For more than 20 years, Hall taught Principles and Practices of Commercial Real Estate, first at Rollins College, then at Florida Technological Institute and its successor, the University of Central Florida. During that time he taught hundreds of students, among them former Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty. He mentored many young real estate professionals over his career. Dubbed by one media outlet the “Dean of Commercial Real Estate,” he earned two lifetime achievement awards from NAIOP, one in 1996 and again in 2003 for his contributions to the commercial real estate industry, the Wilbur Strickland Memorial Award for “outstanding dedication and unending support” from the Central Florida Real Estate Society in 2000, and the Legacy Award presented by the Orlando Business Journal in 2008. His civic and community involvement included chairing the City of Orlando Transportation Permit Board and the Board of the United Negro College Fund earning a Lifetime Achievement Award. All through his working life, Hall brought empathy and a listening ear to those around him, while making the businesses he led successful. He was known for his kindness, his integrity and, foremost, for his love of family. He was also known for his love of a great story, which he told wonderfully well; his love of golf, which he played very well, and his love of flying, which he did superbly, never having had a carrier landing wave-off during his military service. Hall is survived by his wife of 22 years, Lawrie Platt Hall, his brother Donald A. Hall (Marie) of Marquette, MI, and his sister, Dorothy Ozanich (Dick) of Clio, MI; his five children by the late Elinor Mae Rundles Hall: Andrea Schewe (Bill) of Wheaton, IL; Barbara Branic (Mike), Carmel, IN; Trevor Hall, Jr., (Lynne White), Orlando; Mark Hall, New Smyrna Beach; Cameron Hall (Doug Spitznagel), La Canada, CA; ten grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren. Arrangements are being made by Baldwin Fairchild Lake Ivanhoe. A memorial service will be held at All Saint’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday, December 9 at 10:00 a.m. A memorial Gathering will be held at the Baldwin Fairchild Lake Ivanhoe facilityon Monday evening, December 8 from 5-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his memory to the National Parkinson’s Foundation Central Florida Chapter, the United Negro College Fund Central Florida Chapter, or The Mayflower Retirement Center Employees’ Scholarship Fund.