Marie Martin Hall

Marie Martin Hall

With her husband and son by her side, Marie Martin Hall (also known as "Grand'Mere") passed into eternity on November 13. She was 89.

A resident of Seattle's Magnolia community for 62 years, Marie grew up in depression-era Boston with her younger brother, Jack and younger sister, Kathy. As a proud New Englander, Marie embraced the values of the puritan work ethic and started working at the age of 13 to help support her family. While she worked in several capacities, her main occupational passions and talents were in writing. She wrote advertising for KIRO Radio and Television in the 70s and worked as a freelance copywriter for many more years. She was also a prolific writer of essays, poems and special interest pieces and her work was printed in several publications.

But perhaps her greatest occupational passions and talents were in the home, where she loved to cook and bake and prepare wonderful meals for her family, including many elegant, festive and memorable Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners.

From a young age, she loved the arts and enjoyed a lifetime of museums, opera, ballet, symphony and theater. Marie also loved languages and culture and traveled widely, including several extended stays in Rome, Paris, London and Mexico City. She knew and spoke Latin, Spanish, French and Italian. She was an avid reader and lover of books, including books on travel, cooking, the arts, biographies, history, philosophy and religion. She was particularly fond of Thoreau and stoic philosophy.

Marie had a wealth of friendships, most of which were rooted in a deeply shared love of the arts, language, culture, travel, or similarly noble interests. She valued her friendships and kept in touch with many people throughout her life, often with beautiful hand-made cards and thoughtfully-written notes, poems and letters. And she was always quick to provide moral support to friends in need. She enriched the lives of many people, and her life in turn was enriched by her many wonderful and interesting friends.

Marie was preceded in death by her brother, Jack, and her son, Howard. She is survived by her sister, Kathy, her husband of 63 years, John Hall, her son Stephen, her daughter-in-law (wife of Howard) Cindy Hall, her grandson John Robert Hall, her granddaughter Catherine Hall Rees (husband Randy), and her great grandchild, Mason Howard Rees. Marie considered the happiness and success of her children and grandchildren to be her greatest reward in life.

With this beautiful life lived and graciously shared, a fitting epitaph for Marie is a quote by Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman philosopher king (of whom Marie considered herself a life-long student): "Ones worth is measured by the worth of what one values." And with such measure, Marie certainly lived a worthy life.

The family will be holding a celebration of Marie's life in January.

Please sign Marie's online Guestbook at www.Legacy.com.