Remembering the Life of Robert Gilmer Hall

August 4, 1936-October 29, 2021

            Bob was born to Elva and Gilmer “Jiggs” Hall on August 4, 1934 in Pulaski, Virginia. He spent the first few years of his life living with his parents, grandparents, and uncles. Whenever Bob was about to get into trouble with his mom, his uncles would carry him off to keep him from facing the music. One of Bob’s early memories was of his dad winning a big teddy bear in town and bringing it home to him.

            At some point in the early 1940s Bob moved to Ohio with his mom and dad, and attended school there. His dad had been wounded during his service in WWII, and these wounds affected him for the rest of his life. Bob’s Aunt Thelma (Blondie) lived with them during this time, and they had fun going to the movies. This might explain Bob’s love of the movies, especially Westerns starring John Wayne.

            After Bob’s mom and dad divorced, he went to New York to live with Elva and her new husband Stan. When Bob got to New York, Stan’s dad met him at the train with a Dodgers shirt and said, “You’re a Dodgers fan now.” While he lived in New York, Bob played on a baseball team with the neighborhood kids, and he attended Brooklyn Dodgers games with Stan’s father. Those of us who knew Bob are familiar with his love of baseball, especially the Nationals and the Atlanta Braves.

            There was a polio scare at some point after Bob moved to New York, and his family sent him back to Virginia to live with his relatives. On another trip on a Greyhound bus from Ohio to Virginia, Bob recalled that it was Halloween and there were bonfires along the road in West Virginia. In Virginia, Bob lived with various relatives in the Max Meadows, Virginia area until he found a home with his Aunt Addie Davis and her husband Pete. Although Uncle Pete was a preacher, he did not know how to read or write, so Aunt Addie read passages out of the Bible to him which he would memorize. Unfortunately, when Pete preached, Bob and his cousins sometimes played hooky outside the church. Another time Bob went to school after being sprayed by a skunk. It was winter, and for some reason he was not too popular with his classmates or his teacher!

            When he was 17, Bob moved to Roanoke. His mom and step-father had moved there, and he spent his first year there working for Stan. After that year, Bob was hired by Dallas Shelton the majority owner of Grandin Texaco which was a full service gas station just like the Texaco in the movie Back to the Future. Bob was a hard worker and learned on the job. Eventually, they sent him to Greenboro, NC where he mastered the craft of repairing carburators.

            Around this time, Bob was introduced to a young nurse, Rosa Leona Carr, through mutual friends. At first, Bob and Leona, hung out in a large group of friends, but over time they began dating. Leona recalls that they used to go out to Shoney’s to see who you could see. Some tasty treats at the Shoney’s were Slim Jim’s and French-fried onion rings.

            Bob and Leona got married in September of 1959. At that time males had to register for the draft, and in January of 1960, he volunteered for 6 months of active duty with 6 years of reserve duty. Bob’s first duty station was Ft. Knox, and later on he moved on to Ft. Dix in New Jersey. Once he was at Ft. Dix, Bob went home to Roanoke every Friday night and back to Ft. Dix on Sunday nights. Even though he didn’t have much time, he often managed to stop by his mother-in-law’s house in Raphine, VA to get some hot rolls on his way back to New Jersey.

            In November of 1961, Bob and his bride moved into their house on Desi Road in Salem, Virginia.  The young Hall family grew very quickly. Garry came along in 1961. He was followed by Chuck who was born in late 1962.

            After Dallas’s partner Tommy passed away, he offered Bob a 25% partnership in the business. Dallas was a generous to Bob, and he knew he had a good partner in Bob. They worked well together and often did helpful things to fix their customer’s cars without charging them. Leona said they did a lot of good deeds. During the course of their partnership, Dallas and Bob weathered all the ups and downs of running a service station. In the early 1970s, they began closing the station on Sundays. Later they survived the oil crisis and gas shortage of the mid-70s when people followed the gas truck so they could get gas. During that time Bob and Dallas had to sneak their own cars into the station so they could fill up.

In 1993, Dallas retired and Bob took over the business. One of the first hurdles Bob and his new partner Leona had to face was replacing the gas pumps and tanks at the gas station. During this time, they relied on the mechanical side of the business and they did very well. Another challenge occurred when Bob’s doctor found a spot on his lung. After the surgery to remove part of his lung, Bob continued to work hard and do multiple jobs around the station.

            Between his reserve duties and the 48-hour work week at the service station, Bob didn’t have time for a vacation for several years.  Finally, when his reserve duties ended, Bob and his family finally took a vacation to Niagara Falls. Other vacations included visiting Bob’s mother in Virginia Beach, the Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina, a visit to Disney World, Myrtle Beach, and a visit to Atlanta to see the Braves play.

            In 2003, Bob and Leona sold Grandin Texaco and left Roanoke for Raphine, Virginia. Bob’s hard work and sacrifice funded his son’s college educations which in turn helped Garry and Chuck to educate their sons who now have families or pets of their own. Together he and Leona created a home that was always welcoming whether you lived in the same state or were arriving in the middle of the night after a 3-day cross country trip.

            During his retirement years, Bob adopted four pets who gave him a lot of joy. The first of these pets was an extremely loud and intelligent Siamese cat that he named Buddy. Unfortunately, Buddy was taken by someone in the neighborhood and never returned. Not too long after the disappearance, Buddy the dog arrived at the farm and was Bob’s companion for the rest of his life. Soon after the adoption of Buddy the dog was the arrival of a little kitten on Bob’s birthday. Bob and Leona named her Fannie Mae. Bob had great fun watching Fannie Mae and Buddy, and he sometimes called Buddy her mother. And last but not least was the arrival of Blackie. Although Bob sometimes called Blackie a bully, Blackie spent a lot of time sharing the foot rest of Bob’s recliner.

            For quite a bit of his retirement, Bob and Leona spent time seeing the fruits of their labors in the family they started. Over the years, they attended numerous baseball games, freezing soccer matches, and other activities. A few years later they attended high school graduations, then college graduations, and later weddings. More recently, Bob and Leona were blessed with four beautiful great-grandchildren.

Matthew 25:23:  His lord said to him, “Well done good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”