Betty Sue Hall's Obituary
The Hall family is saddened to announce the death of our beloved mother Betty Sue Hall on Saturday, June 8th, 2024. Betty Sue was born in Mobile, Alabama to proud parents Charles and Mary Gates on January 31st, 1930.
Betty Sue started loving music early in her childhood by listening to classical records that her parents would play for her. After much pleading, her parents bought her a shiny, barely used upright Kimball piano for $75 during the depression. She then started piano lessons and a promising musical career was born.
She was very fortunate to have a very dedicated and qualified piano teacher in her small town. She accompanied the Glee Club during her high school years and also was playing hymns during the Methodist church services she attended. After finishing high school, she attended Mississippi State College for Women which was known for having one of the best music departments in the state of Mississippi. She had scholarship offers to a few other schools but really wanted to attend MSCW because of the music department's reputation.
She earned a bachelor's degree in piano performance Cum Laude at MSCW. In her senior year, she competed in a scholarship competition sponsored by the Memphis and Mid-South piano association and performed over an hour of solo music! She received first place and earned a $1,000 scholarship, which now would be more like $25,000!
While she was thinking about going to graduate school, she accepted a job teaching piano at the All Saints Episcopal School and Junior College for Girls in Vicksburg. She worked there for about a year until she married Dudley Sennett Hall in June of 1952 and they moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Until she had children, she managed the Ogden Park music shop which was a haven for audiophiles who loved classical music! She stopped working when her son Charles was born and became a stay at home mother. Betty Sue started teaching at home before Charles was 2 years old after inheriting 10 students from a friend she attended college with. That was the start of her piano teaching career and it continued for the next 60 years!
Shortly after her 90th birthday, Covid changed our lives considerably and helped my mom decide it was time to retire. She is survived by her two sons, Charles and Jim, and her daughter Judy and five grandchildren - Jesse, Charlie Beth, Julian, Xavier, and Alex. She will be greatly missed and will always be remembered as polite, kind and considerate of others in her classic southern belle way.
Betty Sue expressed her desire for people to make donations in her memory to causes that she felt strongly about instead of receiving lots of flowers. This would include donating to the ASPCA because she loved all animals and especially all of the cats she had throughout her life! Since her husband passed away from a stroke, she would also be happy with a donation in her memory to the Heart Association. And last but not least, cancer affected several of her family members at some point or another, and a donation in her memory to the American Cancer Society would also be greatly appreciated! The links are listed below if you choose to make a donation in her memory!
For the ASPCA - https://secure.aspca.org/donate/ps-memory-sl-p1
For the Heart Association - https://www.heart.org/en/get-involved/ways-to-give?form=FUNQCSERKQD
For the American Cancer Society - https://donate.cancer.org/?campaign=honormemorialmedia
What’s your fondest memory of Betty?
What’s a lesson you learned from Betty?
Share a story where Betty's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Betty you’ll never forget.
How did Betty make you smile?