Ann Eldridge Hall

Abilene native Ann Eldridge Hall passed away on Saturday, August 1, 2009 at the Calvary Hospital in New York City after a valiant struggle with cancer. A memorial service will be held in Abilene at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 25, at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, Episcopal, with a reception to follow at the church. A graveside service will follow at 2:00 p.m. the same day in Elmwood Memorial Park directed by The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, Abilene, Texas. Ann was the daughter of the former Mayor of Abilene, the late Elbert E. Hall and the late Mary Eldridge Hall. She was a member of the first graduating class of Cooper High School, where she was a cheerleader and took first place in the state UIL speech contest her senior year. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1966. At U.T. she was named a Freshman Beauty, worked on the Campus Chest Committee and was initiated into the Pi Beta Phi Sorority. Ms. Hall had a successful career in public relations, specializing in strategic corporate communications and design. She began her career in New York City with F. Schumacher & Co., manufacturer of designer fabrics. In Dallas she worked on a number of public relations assignments including arranging the groundbreaking party for the Crescent real estate development and branding strategy for Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Fidelity Investments. In New York she developed strategy for clients such as the Ford Foundation, A.T. Kearney, the Design Trust and the New York City Police Museum. Alongside her professional accomplishments, Ms. Hall was always active in non-profit organizations and political campaigns. She served on the Board of Directors for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation from 1988 through 1991, and on the Komen Foundation's National Advisory Council from 1991 to 1996. She was a sustaining member of the New York Junior League. She worked on the campaigns of Ann Richards for Governor of Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison for Senate and Annette Strauss for Mayor of Dallas. Ann was known among her friends and family for the sophisticated sense of personal style and decor she shared with her mother Mary and aunts Dottie and Cacky. She could walk into a room and size up what needed to be done to make it look better, whether it was rearranging paintings on the wall or simply moving a chair from one place to another. Early in her public relations career she assisted designers such as Angelo Donghia and Harry Hinson market their lines of fabrics. The interest led to her avocation of helping friends with their interior remodeling, which she greatly enjoyed. She is survived by her sisters Jane Hall of Washington, D.C. and niece Emily, Carol Hall and her husband Leonard Majzlin of New York City and their children Susannah and Daniel; cousins Bill Minter and wife Lindsay of Abilene; Sandra Helmers and husband Bobby of Christoval, Texas; Caroline Howard and husband Jim of Odessa; and Harry Hurt, Jr. and wife Jody of West Covina, California, stepsisters Susan Parker, Nancy Deegan Morton, Jeannie Deegan, stepbrother Bobby Deegan and many dear friends in Texas and New York. Memorials may be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Church of the Heavenly Rest, Episcopal or the cause of the donor's choice.