Rev. Nell Funk Hall

The Rev. Nell Funk Hall, age 95, of Springfield, Missouri, passed away on May 9, 2004. Nell Hall was born April 21, 1909, in Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada, to Peter P. and Catherine Reimer Funk. After the start of World War I, her family moved to Wolf Point, Montana. She was one of seven children, and is survived by two sisters. Directly after graduation from high school, she taught at the Benrud School for two years, teaching all eight grades in a one-room setting. Nell then studied one year in Winnipeg, Canada, at the Canadian Pentecostal Bible College and a second year at Glad Tidings Bible Institute in San Francisco graduating in 1931. Glad Tidings is now Bethany College in Santa Cruz, California. Preparing for missionary service with the Assemblies of God, Nell spent five years in ministry in Idaho and Montana. She and a coworker started Assemblies of God churches in Butte and Deer Lodge, Montana, (1932, 1933) and Pocatello, Idaho (1934). She received her ordination credentials in 1933. She met her husband, A. Walker Hall of Chula Vista, Calif. while building the church in Deer Lodge, Montana. They were married June 1936 and sailed for China on Christmas Day, 1936. The first two years were spent learning the Cantonese language. Two sons were born to them in China. On December 8, 1941, when the second son was six-weeks old, Hong Kong was overrun by the Japanese army and they were interned in Stanley Camp as prisoners of war. Six months later they were repatriated, the first prisoner of war exchange of its kind during wartime. Due to political unrest they ministered to Chinese peoples in other areas of the world. This included two terms in Havana, Cuba, one in Canton, China, one in the Territory of the Hawaiian Islands. Two more children were born during these terms. The final overseas assignment for Nell and her husband was to Hong Kong where they started and operated Wa Wai kindergarten schools and churches until retiring in 1980. In 40 years that organization has provided a Biblically based education for thousands of children, leading to the establishment of thriving Wa Wai Assemblies of God churches. The final ten years of semi-retirement were spent working with the Asian immigrants in Modesto and Sacramento ending in 1990, with the death of Nell's husband. They had been married for fifty-four years and had spent the entire time in active ministerial work. Surviving are three sons, Arlin (A. W.) of Fort Worth, Texas, Cecil of Kilauea, Hawaii, and Larry of Springfield, Mo.; a daughter, Juanelle Stracner of Chico, Calif., and their spouses; five granddaughters, Heidi Jumper of Little Rock, Ark., Amy Nell (Zoi) Hall, of Oakland, Calif., Lori Harvey of Pensacola, Fla., Hillary Hall of Chico, Calif. and Heather Hall of Fort Worth, Texas, and their spouses. She had one great-granddaughter, Morganne Jumper of Little Rock. A memorial service will be held May 27th, at 6 p.m. at First Assembly of God, 1147 Arbutus Ave, Chico. Burial will be in the Chico Cemetery, with the kind help of the Newton-Bracewell Funeral Home. She was a woman of great strength, courage, and dedication. She had one desire in life; to live and act in a way pleasing to her Maker. In keeping with the priorities lived by Nell and Walker HalI, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wa Wai Church, #348010-0 (73) in care of Assemblies of God World Missions, 1445 N Boonville Ave, Springfield, MO 65802.