2004 Year in Review

Betty Hall touched many lives

A recent photo of Betty Hall contributed by Victoria Cardwell

Photo from the 1979 yearbook illustrating Ms Hall's graphic and art works.

There are a few people in this world that have an impact on lives more than any other. This month Morrison education lost one of those people and a long-term friend. Bettie Hall taught art and English for 37 years, 29 at Morrison High School. She started in 1950 after teaching six years in Fulton. When she retired in 1979 she had graduated many students and touched many lives. Among her students were English teacher Anne Frame, art teacher Theresa Brandon, local artist Victoria Cardwell, and many other artists and individuals.

Ms Hall was born in Belvidere, Illinois, but her father became Professor of Education at NIU and they made their home in Dekalb. She graduated NIU and earned her Master’s. According to her sister Virginia Hall of Dekalb they have seen an outpouring from her students and many came to her funeral.

Former student and English teacher, Anne Frame, had Ms Hall for College English her senior year at MHS and credits Ms Hall with her love of British Literature. “She made me fall in love with England and its works,” Mrs. Frame explained.

“When I quit teaching music and started teaching English, I modeled my class after hers, using the same curriculum. She even gave me some of her books.” She was a no-nonsense teacher who was very knowledgeable but she could put a student in their place with her sarcasm.

The 1979 yearbook, the year she retired, quotes student Sabine Fruhwald, “Miss Hall has a great personality and a certain most pleasing sense of humor. It’s like sugar in lemon juice.”

While at MHS she directed plays, did skits after school dances, and at pep rallies. According to Mrs. Frame she was a unique individual with a wicked sense of humor. Some students were half afraid of her but she made them aware of the world outside Morrison. After her plays she made personalized mementos as a keepsake for those in the play.

Don Miller, another retired teacher in Morrison, continued his friendship with Ms Hall. He and his wife traveled with her to England and Scotland. “She loved the countryside and was very proud of her Scottish heritage.” After planning a trip Ms Hall would bring a couple friends along to share the experience. Making friends easily she corresponded with many of her British friends. Every year receiving 12-16 letters from England. She also was very good at sketching English towns.

Ms Hall was a master calligrapher. Each year she made a calendar to sell but if you were a really good friend you would receive one at Christmas along with her wonderful letter. Her calendars, each done in calligraphy, demonstrated her wit and wisdom and revealed some of her philosophy about life with sayings like, “Old Age isn’t for Sissy’s”. Each November she did a calligraphy show and sold her pieces. She made invitations, baptismal and other certificates for her church or other people. The First Lutheran Church of Dekalb has many of her donated works. The King and Queen of England were also recipients of her calligraphy. On a trip to Africa someone even found one of her framed pieces in a church office.

Mrs. Frame remembers getting handwritten tests in calligraphy from her. “We knew we were in a special room.”

“Whether it was an invitation, place card, award certificate, or gift tag, one of hand-lettered creations was undeniably personal and meaningful,” wrote Shirley Hughes, the retired school district secretary and close friend. Reading her journals from her trips abroad were, “nothing short of taking the trip oneself or reading a good novel to read the vivid descriptions of the places she visited and people she met, interspersed with sketches or photographs.”

She also taught calligraphy to many of her art students. When she was MHS art teacher she expanded the art department into two rooms and was always abreast of the latest trends in art. In addition to calligraphy, the students were taught drawing, painting, sculpture, and 3-d art. They did macramé when it was popular in the 70’s. In Stitchery she taught contemporary and traditional needlework along with crewel and crochet. Ms Hall ch,.anged the yearlong art program to semesters for greater variety and room for more students.

The majority of her students used art as a hobby but many of her students attribute their careers directly to Ms Hall. Some of her students made art their profession becoming artists and teachers. Her students won scholarships, became commercial artists, and won Scholastic Art Awards.

Alan Stone (class of 1963 and owner of a graphic, advertising and Web design firm in California) is encouraging Ms. Hall’s students to donate to CAPA (The Children’s Art Preservation Association), PO Box 45, in her name for art scholarships and to start a lasting legacy.

“I can say that she was an inspiration to me as a young student with a little art talent. Because of her encouragement I went on to art school and have been a professional graphic designer since 1968,” wrote Stone.

“The memory of her creativity and mental energy is powerful in my mind,” another student remembers.

There was hardly a program or poster without her touches added to it. Up until the last few years she even did the Madrigal supper programs for MHS. In 1955, she was helpful in the Centennial celebration. The cover of the programs illustrated her artwork.

MHS student Victoria Cardwell thought she would be here forever. “She encouraged us, even if our work wasn’t good she found something good to say about it. She always listened to us. Everybody loved her. She impacted lives more than any other. I still remember her big smiles.”

Many of her students had kept in touch and had become friends as adults. She also corresponded with numerous area teachers after her retirement to Dekalb, Illinois. Hundreds of handwritten birthday cards were sent to all her friends on each of their birthdays. It seems everyone she had ever met was her best friend and she corresponded with them all.

Ms Hall was living in her families’ home in Dekalb, working everyday, when she was suddenly struck with pneumonia and passed away January 20, 2004. She had been wheelchair bound for many years and was being cared for by her sister Virginia. She was 83 years old.

“She will live on in our hearts and minds in the years to come, each with a special memory of something meaningful often involving her wit,” Mrs. Hughes concluded.

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
February 2, 2004