Bradford Hall

July 10, 1928 - January 6, 2024
Bradford Hall died in San Francisco on January 6, 2024 after a long illness. He was in his 96th year.
Bradford was born on July 10, 1928 in Wichita, Kansas as the third son to Standish and Helen (Brooks) Hall. Brad attended Wichita public schools, the Hotchkiss School, the University of Arizona, and graduated from the University of Wichita. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1951 and, upon completing flight training, was assigned to a fighter squadron flying F-86 Sabre jets. His last assignment was as commanding officer of the England AFB Instrument Flying School.
Brad began his business career in 1955 at the Union National Bank of Wichita. He was on the board of directors of the Metropolitan YMCA, chairman of the City Zoning Board of Appeals, and a member of the Planning Commission. In 1964, he joined Security Pacific National Bank in Los Angeles, becoming Vice President in charge of a lending division. Later he was Vice President Corporate Finance for the investment firm Glore Forgan Staats; Senior Vice President of Shareholders Asset Management Company; and Senior Vice President of Trust Company of the West. He was a member of the board of Art Center College of Design and chairman of the audit and finance committee. In 1977, he became a partner at the San Francisco investment counsel firm Wentworth, Hauser and Violich where he worked for 35 years until his retirement in 2012. In 1999 Brad raised the founding donations for a successful community health program in Laikipia, Kenya. Now region-wide, the health service was initially based on Mpala ranch, once owned by a friend and now by the Smithsonian. He also served on the Wichita State University Foundation's national advisory council and investment committee.
Whether for business or pleasure, Brad could almost always find something of mutual interest that enabled him to talk with anyone and have them enjoying it, usually because it was about them, not himself. He liked good order, making people smile, and leaving things better than he found them. The telephone was among his favorite tools, and he loved drive-able machines - cars, boats, a cane cutter, and especially the airplanes he flew with skill and authority. He was master of the J-stroke in a canoe and was perhaps happiest on the island he claimed in 1948 on Lake Temagami and made a vacation retreat for his family and close friends. His time in Temagami included summers as a youth at a canoe tripping camp, Keewaydin, and two years as President of the Temagami Lakes Association.
Bradford was predeceased by his older brothers, Brooks and Wolcott, and by his ex-wife Kelsey (Browne) Hall. He is survived by his and Kelsey's three sons and six grandsons: Bradford, Jr., his wife Kim, and sons Bobby and Buddy (Bradford III) of Pasadena; Bill, his wife Carol, and sons Jimmy and Will of Denver; and Jim and sons Henry and Jonathan of Atlanta; by his nephews Fred, Boots, and Kirk Hall of Oklahoma City; and by his longtime companion, Deirdre. We miss him.