Beverly Barton HALL

HALL, Beverly Barton
Beverly Barton Hall, 95, died peacefully September 18, 2013 in the Orange, CT home where she raised her family and lived for more than sixty years. She was born July 15, 1918 in Cincinnati, OH, daughter of the late Clarence Earl Barton and Maude (Wedmore) Chambers. A 1940 graduate of Middlebury College, Beverly also earned a Certificate of Library Science from Columbia University and an MS in Education from Southern Connecticut State College. She worked in the libraries at Wellesley College, the Great Neck (NY) public library, and the Yale Law School through the 1940s. She was a founder and member of the Orange public library from 1956-1963 while raising her family. After volunteering in the Amity Junior High School library in Orange, she served as head librarian at Amity Regional Senior High School (Woodbridge) from 1967-1980. Following her retirement, she and her husband established a second home in Naples, FL where she continued following her passion for books by founding and serving as librarian at St. John's Episcopal Church from 1993-2011. Bev's passion extended to writing as well. In addition to writing several short stories, she authored The Secret of the Lion's Head, (1995), an historical novel for adolescents from the perspective of her husband's grandmother, a child living at the nexus of General Grant's Richmond spy ring during the Civil War. Second only to her passion for books was Bev's love of counted cross-stitch. She surrounded herself with her craft, and delighted in creating special works of art for her family and friends. When she could no longer sew, she kept at least one book by her side at all times and was an avid reader to the very end. Raised in the Westville section of New Haven, Bev reconnected with a returning World War II veteran and childhood neighbor, Randolph VanLew Hall, whom at age 11 she had decided would be the man she would someday marry. In 1947, she did indeed marry him, and they had more than 55 years together. The last surviving initial member of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Orange, Beverly is survived by her sister, Barbara Barton Lindsey of Southington; her three children: Barton M. Hall (Margit), of De Soto, KS; Martha H. Kern, of Orange; and Patricia H. Pellerin (Robert), of Salem, along with six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She was pre-deceased by her husband, three step-brothers (Arthur, Gordon, and Marshall Chambers), one granddaughter, and a great-grandson.
Memorial services will be at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Orange at the convenience of the family, and burial will be in the family plot in Orange Center Cemetery.