John Hall

John was born on July 31, 1933 in Bradford, Yorkshire England, the oldest son of Thomas Hall and Lily Hall (nee Swires). John grew up in Bradford with his brothers William “Bill” and Brian Hall, and sister Maralyn. While working as an apprentice at the AVRO Company, he attended night school at the Royal Technical College, Salford and in 1955, obtained his Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering – the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science degree in the US. He enjoyed and participated in many traditional English sports including cricket, field hockey, soccer, and fishing.

In 1949, he met the love of his life and future wife Brenda Shea at a church dance. John and Brenda courted for 5 years, and were married on July 17, 1954 in Rochdale, Lancashire. John and Brenda settled in Rochdale, and later Poulton-le-Fylde where they had two children – Robert John Hall, and Jacqueline Anne Hall.

John was employed as an engineer at Avro Engineering company in 1952, working on engineering aspects of aircraft including the Avro 748, and the Vulcan bomber. In 1965, he was recruited to work for the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington USA. In what was to become one of many world adventures, in September 1966 the Hall family travelled to Washington State on a 3-week voyage via Florida, the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexico, and finally Vancouver Canada on the S.S. Canberra.

The Hall family settled in Redmond, Washington for many years before moving to Kirkland, and finally Bothell, Washington in the later years of John and Brenda’s lives. Despite missing the rest of his family, and the beauty of England, John loved the Puget Sound area. He became an avid fisherman, golfer, boater, and an enthusiastic American sports spectator.

In his early years working at Boeing, John decided to take an opportunity to become part of a team focused on metallurgical fatigue and stress analysis. This team would go on to develop an “aging” airplane inspection program which was taught in workshops for airlines all over the world. John survived the staffing cuts at Boeing in the 1970s, and during his 28 years at Boeing received many awards for excelling in his job including employee of the quarter, employee of the year, numerous letters of commendation for his work at Boeing, Associate Technical Fellow in 1992, and Technical Fellow designation soon after.

Outside of work, John was just as busy with his family, spending his free time remodeling his homes, camping, fishing, golfing and traveling. With the goal of maintaining contacts with other fellow expat British families, John was a founding member and first president of the Britannia Club. John and his family developed numerous lifelong friendships with members of the Club, and forged many happy memories to look back on.

In 1985, John and Brenda moved to Madrid, Spain for 2 years while John participated as an engineer in assisting the Spanish government develop their own airplane. In John’s later years at Boeing, he was involved in teaching the aging airplane inspection program and traveled throughout the world – to Australia, India, Japan, and Argentina, to name but a few of the countries. John retired from the Boeing Company in 1994, after 28 years of service. He continued teaching the aircraft inspection program in collaboration with Boeing and the University of Kansas for many years during his retirement.

After retirement, the family travels continued, this time via the newly founded Elderhostel company. John and Brenda enjoyed many Elderhostel tours throughout the world. In 2012, John was designated as an Elderhostel Ambassador, and began giving informational slideshows about the trips he had taken. These shows were the beginning of a new interest for John – developing and sharing travelogues set to music. He also filled his time with the many hobbies and interests he had developed over the years.

Our Dad was a quiet, often contemplative man, appearing serious to many. At the same time, he had a sharp wit and a dry sense of humor that you never knew when it would appear in a conversation. He enjoyed making others laugh, and keeping them guessing about whether he was being serious or not.

Our Dad was a smart, skilled and humble man. Few knew of his many accomplishments – from the many awards during his work at Boeing to his artistic skills ranging from pen and ink drawing to marquetry. He enjoyed making his own television set, stereo system, and fish finder from Heathkit. He worked many long hours at Boeing and then would spend weekends with the family camping, up at our house on Camano Island, fishing, gathering with family friends, or working on his next home improvement project. He designed and/or remodeled every house we lived in, with the rest of the family passing nails, holding the ladder or putting the tools away.

John and Brenda moved to the Chateau retirement community in Bothell in 2014 where they made many new friends. Chateau residents often saw John walking his basset hounds – Nelson and later Winston, or playing pool with friends at the nearby Northshore Community Center. John enjoyed many years of meals with friends, attending lectures and social events, and showing his travelogues and internet shows to Chateau residents.

We will remember our Dad as a man who was committed to taking care of his family; someone who was conservative and at the same time willing to be adventuresome; and a Dad who enjoyed learning, travel, technology, and photography. Our Dad enabled our family to have many world travels and family trips; together we explored the USA, South America, Europe and Africa. He was an upright family man with a strong moral code and an English sense of politeness and propriety, something he shared with our Mum. For us, one of his legacies was his generosity in providing us the opportunities and support to be successful in our education and careers. We are fortunate to have so many good memories of our Dad to fill the void left in our lives with his passing.

John was preceded in death by his beloved wife Brenda in 2017. John is survived by his son Robert John Hall of Bellevue, WA; and daughter Jacqueline Anne Hall of Edmonds, WA; brother William Hall of Yorkshire, England; four nieces and two nephews; many extended family in England, and many close friends.

In lieu of flowers, the Hall family suggests donations be made in John’s memory to: the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America.

A celebration of life will be held on what would have been John's 90th birthday on July 31st. The gathering of friends and family will be from 1 to 3 pm at Chateau Bothell Landing Bistro Auditorium. 17543 102nd Ave NE, Bothell WA 98011.