Friends, family and even an Elvis impersonator toasted Hall and sang “Happy Birthday” at a lunchtime party Tuesday, April 22, at the Wasatch County Senior Center.
She was born in Illinois but moved to Utah at four years old, after her parents converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
She was a physical education teacher, raised seven children – six daughters and a son – and says she treasures memories of traveling around South America and Europe.
Hall has been a Wasatch County resident for 35 years, and she’s a regular at the senior center, where she comes for lunch and time with friends twice a week. She says one reason for her longevity is she always stays active.
Hall celebrated her birthday surrounded by her daughters, who say she’s a sweet, practical, hardworking and faithful woman.
One of her daughters, Anna Ashcroft, described her as unfailingly kind.
“She was always just so nice,” she said. “Anytime I had a baby, she and my dad would drive to California and help me out. They were always there for us.”
Her sister, Teresa Larsen, said she learned valuable life skills from their mother, who’s a talented cook.
“I loved watching her make pies, make cinnamon rolls,” she said.
Larsen has fond memories of her mom packing up a big frying pan and a bag of potatoes anytime the family went camping.
Another daughter, Wendy Petersen, said Hall modeled faith to all her children.
“I was probably 11 or 12, and I was running around the house looking for Mom,” she said. “I burst in her bedroom, and she was on her knees preparing her primary lesson and praying, and I’ve never forgotten that. I try to do the same when I prepare a church lesson.”
She said profound grief shaped her mother’s life after losing a baby girl to a fever. She said after the baby died the family leaned more on their faith in hope of being with their little girl again someday.
Petersen said she and her siblings grew up in Provo, and her parents moved to Wallsburg in 1990. Always focused on family, the Halls use the land to host big family reunions.
“They bought an acre, and it was virtually a huge playground for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” she said. “My dad built a racetrack with little go-karts, a huge gazebo, picnic tables, a playhouse that looks like a dollhouse, a horseshoe pit, a sandbox – all kinds of fun things for the family to enjoy.”
Petersen said everyone in the family loves Hall.
“Best mother I could have had," she said. "Couldn’t have asked for a better one.”
The family will gather for a big party this weekend, with over 120 relatives coming to celebrate Hall’s birthday with tacos and ice cream.
