Howard Hall, 97, of Quarryville, PA
Funeral Services: Will be held on Friday, April 4, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. at the Lamb Funeral Home in Fontanelle with burial in the Greenfield Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at the Lamb Funeral Home in Fontanelle following the burial. Pastor Andrew Rubenking will officiate the service. The Lamb Funeral Home in Fontanelle is in charge of the professional arrangements. Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.
A Little History of the Life of Howard Hall
It was a very cold, windy morning with snow on December 31, 1927 in a little farm house in southern Iowa, near Kellerton, where Howard and his twin sister Helen were born. Five years later, after three moves to other tenant farms, they arrived at the farm that became their family farm and was where they grew up. For grades 1 through 8 they attended a one-room country school one mile east of the farm, then they went to 4 years of high school located 6 miles away in Lamoni. There were no school buses, so to attend school they lived in a two-room apartment in Lamoni during the week.
After high school, Howard spent 18 months in the army working as a surgical technician in the base hospital at Camp Lee, Virginia. He arrived home in July, just in time to register for college at Graceland Jr. College in Lamoni. The next year he moved to Iowa State College where in four years he earned a degree in Agricultural Engineering. His degree was not the only thing he received from Iowa State, it was there he met his college sweetheart, Linda, whom he later married.
After graduation, Howard worked as an engineer for the USDA’s Soil Conservation Service at Shenandoah in southwest Iowa. His work included survey, design and construction supervision of small earth dams for gully control, flood control, water supply and recreation. It was while living in Shenandoah that the Halls’ three children were born, Rosalie, Mark and Timothy. After working in Iowa for 16 years, Howard transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska for 9 years, then moved in 1977 to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania where he finished his 40 year career with the SCS. After retirement, Howard and Linda decided, due to their country background, they would be happier in a more country setting so they moved to a house near Quarryville, located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The Hall family enjoyed hiking and camping and spent many vacations in the Colorado and Wyoming mountains. They also canoed on the Minnesota lakes and streams. After moving to Pennsylvania, Linda and Howard joined a square dance club and became avid square dance fans. Linda developed cancer, and after a long battle she died in 1997. After Linda was gone, Howard took up line dancing and spent 10 years with a line dance group called the Buffalo Gals. Another interest of Howard’s was genealogy. This is where Howard discovered he was related to Louis Haines, who opened the first store in Quarryville in 1830. Quarryville was almost a homecoming for Howard. Other interests of Howard’s were studying various subjects (Art, Language, History, Religion, Science) using DVD’s from the Great Courses Company and writing poetry.
When in high school Howard joined the Methodist church and was a member for more than 80 years. He was a member at Memorial United Methodist Church in Quarryville for 27 of those years.
As mentioned before, Howard has 3 children, also 5 grandchildren, two step grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. Rosalie is the oldest. She taught in the Psychology department at the University of Akron in Ohio, as did her husband Robert. After retirement, they went to teach for another 10 years as professors at Durham University in England. They returned to the U. S. and now live in Middleton, Wisconsin. Mark married a lady, Suwimon (Ju), from Thailand. Ju means “snow pearl”. They lived and taught in universities in Bangkok, Thailand for 10 years. Afterwards, they moved to Hastings, Nebraska, where Mark taught Mathematics and Computer Science at Hastings College and Ju taught Mathematics at Central Community College. They have one son Kris. Timothy, the youngest, is a research engineer and works for NIST (The National Institute of Standards and Technology) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. They have four children, Sarah, Abigail, Jonathan and Rebekah. Sarah is the mother of Olivia and Margot, Howard’s great granddaughters.
Howard was preceded in death by his wife, Linda (BreDahl), whom was from Greenfield, Iowa.
After living alone for 12 years after his wife died, it was time for other arrangements, so Howard moved to QPRC (Quarryville Presbyterian Retirement Community) where he lived for the remainder of his life. It was a good choice, with good friends and, when needed, living support.
Howard passed away peacefully in the early morning of March 12, 2025, after a brief illness.
