Kempton Bishop Hall

1916 - 2013

Kempton Bishop Hall (K.B. "Pete" Hall) passed away peacefully in his Santa Paula home on March 12, 2013, at the age of 96.

He was a resident of Ojai since 1947, and farmed the noted KB Hall apricot and almond ranch in the Upper Ojai since 1955. Born June 30, 1916, in Long Beach, Calif., Pete completed a Bachelor of Science in Geology at UCLA. He was a very active student leader in many organizations, including serving as President of Beta Theta Pi and Blue Key, Commodore of the UCLA Bruins Rowing Club, Chairman of the Japan-America Student Conference and Assistant Dean of Men. During the Japan trip in 1939, he met Emily McIlvaine Stevens, whom he married in 1941.

WW II interrupted his graduate studies. Shortly before Pearl Harbor, he began five years of Army service, first with the Coast Artillery at Fort MacArthur, then with the 134th Anti-aircraft Battalion as Administrative Command and Operations Officer in England, France and Germany.

He held a field promotion of Major and earned five combat stars, including the Battle of the Bulge. Following the war, Pete worked as a distinguished petroleum and ground water geologist for Richfield Oil, ARCO and as a consultant to large companies, government agencies, and private parties who just wanted good well water.

He was a pioneer in offshore exploration and worked on many of the first offshore rigs in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. His professional life included President and Honorary Life Member of the Pacific Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Charter Member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists and founding member and President of the Coast Geological Society.

A community leader, Pete served as President of the Board of Trustees for the Ojai School District for many years and was active as a board member and a director of various sections of the Ojai Chamber of Commerce and Ventura County Farm Bureau. A sailor all of his life, he owned several boats and was a member of both the Santa Barbara and Ventura Yacht Clubs. His last boat, the "Meadow Lark" was a 37-foot ketch, which he sailed into his 90's.

He was a faithful family man, married to his wife, Emily, for 52 years; and father to sons, Peter (Ann) of Sacramento, Matthew (Donna) of Orlando, Fla., Mark (Susan) of Stockton, Luke of Ojai, John of Ojai, Andrew (Mary) of Saratoga Springs, Utah, and Thomas (Laura) of Ojai. He is also survived by a nephew, Ron (Judy) Johnson of Fresno; nieces, Dinah (Gonzalo) Medina of Kansas and Kathleen (Lindoro) Zanghi of Woodland Hills; eighteen grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren.

From a long line of Hall's who immigrated to the New England colonies in 1630's, Pete loved to quote the following from an ancestor's death notice, which proved prophetic: "He died from no special disease, the machinery of life having simply worn out." We wish him God-speed on his journey as he joins Emily, who preceded him in death by 20 years; and his only daughter, Jane Kempton Hall (born and died 1944), who he never saw due to his service in WWII.

Memorial service: St. Paul's/Emmanuel Church, 117 N. 7th Street, Santa Paula, on April 6, at 3 p.m..