OBITUARY NOTICE:
Br. Leo Hall, SA – Franciscan Friar of the Atonement
(December 26, 1933 – May 2, 2019)
(May 3, 2019 – Graymoor, Garrison, NY). Brother Leo (nee William F.) Hall, SA, a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, passed from this life on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at The Paramount Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Somers, NY. A wake service is planned for Sunday, May 5, 2019 at 7 p.m. at the St. Anthony Chapel of the St. Paul Friary at Graymoor in Garrison, NY. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, May 6, 2019 at 10 a.m. in the Chapel. Interment in the Friars’ cemetery will immediately follow the Mass.
Br. Hall was born on December 26, 1933 in San Diego, CA. He attended Sacred Heart Parish School in Coronado, CA and graduated from Saint Augustine High School, San Diego in 1952. Br. Hall entered the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in 1952 and received the habit in 1953. He professed first vows in 1955 and made his final vows in 1961.
Br. Hall worked in Maintenance and Grounds at Graymoor from 1955-1958 and at the Friars’ Novitiate in Cumberland, RI from 1958-1964. He was sent as a missionary to Jatai, Brazil in 1965 and remained there until 1979. He returned briefly to the U.S. and worked in Maintenance at the Atonement Seminary in Washington, DC before returning to Brazil in 1980. In 1983, Br. Hall was appointed Head of the Maintenance Department at Graymoor, a role he held until 1991. From 1991-1998, he served as Caretaker for Friar houses in Brazil and Washington, DC. He returned to Graymoor in 1998 and ministered part-time as caretaker of the St. Francis Novitiate until his retirement in 2010. He continued to assist the Friars’ Treasury Department by performing banking errands. Br. Hall was a resident of St. Paul Friary at Graymoor until shortly before his death.
Br. Hall was the son of the late Finley Hall and Jane (Topp) Hall, both of Tupelo, MS. He is survived by his sister, Mary Jane Wiesler of Carlsbad, CA and his beloved niece and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother, Robert Hall.