Robert "Buddy" Hall's Obituary
Robert “Buddy” Hall, 89, of Madisonville, passed peacefully into the arms of his Lord and Savior, on Tuesday, February 28. The oldest son of Robert Lee and Ella Jane of Goldonna, TX and Laurel, MS, Buddy was born in 1934 in Kilrose, TX, and lived throughout Texas and Louisiana as an oil-patch kid with his parents and his freckle-faced siblings: Bobbie Jean (Marlin, TX), Barbara (Monroe), Charles (Chesnee, SC), and Margaret (DeSoto, TX). This oil-field-life eventually brought his family to New Iberia, and while on a break from LSU, he met his beloved wife: Fannie Marie, and her amazing Garb tribe: parents Sam and Blanche, and siblings: Fain (Mesa, AZ); Tommye (Sapulpa, OK); Carrol (Tulsa); and Blanche Jr. (Tequesta, FL).
Buddy skipped two high school grades and graduated at 16, when he enrolled in LSU as a chemical engineering major, a career he chose over petroleum engineering to avoid frequent relocation. However, that prediction never came true as he and his family: wife Fannie; children: Alane (Vail), Gail (Vail), and Robert (Rob) Jr. (Luxembourg) relocated 10 times between Texas, Delaware, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Luxembourg; and final moves without the grown children to Singapore, and South Korea. The U.S. moves were often accomplished in a Cessna 206, a 6-seater aircraft that Buddy piloted. As a flight instructor, he passed on his love of flying to his son, who flies privately to this day.
After his early retirement from a career of plastics’ manufacturing and overseas production plant construction, Buddy returned to Louisiana supposedly for a job in Bogalusa, LA. His family thinks, however, that he and Fannie returned to their home state so that, until Fannie’s passing in 2007, they could live and play golf at Beau Chêne, go to LSU home football games, have weekly dinners with the Beau Chêne Sunday Supper Club, and enjoy time with family eating po’boys and crawfish pie at Jazz Fest and feeding marshmallows to alligators on the Honey Island Swamp Tour.
Motivated by the opportunity to spend vacations with their first two grandchildren, Trevor (Lucia, Manhattan, NY), and Alexandra (Denver), Buddy and Fannie established a basecamp in Vail, Colorado, hosting Christmas holidays, annual ski trips, and summers with family that included friends who visited from all over the world. Buddy made his kids promise that ‘they would never get tired of skiing in Vail,’ and provided the extended Hall family with cherished family memories spent in Colorado.
Buddy’s membership and leadership at First Baptist Church, Covington, brought him great joy and countless dear friends, many who participated in the Annual Vail Guys’ Ski trip, as Buddy skied every year until his 82nd birthday. His home church fellowship, also, helped him with grief recovery, where he found a love to last the remainder of his life, with his marriage in 2009 to his wife Pat. Buddy shared his love of Europe with Pat on frequent visits to Luxembourg with his son Rob, his wife Maggie, and the newest grandchild, Cathy.
Pat and Buddy’s faith was a walk they shared, and they built a loving life together after the tragic losses of their respective spouses. Buddy’s volunteer work in a Christ-centered recovery program at First Baptist, Celebrate Recovery, significantly impacted his life philosophy, and he and Pat committed to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself,’ and worked to share God’s love through this ministry, which was a cornerstone of their lives together.
Buddy is preceded in death by his parents, his two older sisters, his first wife Fannie, and his mother-, father-, sister-, and brother-in-law: Blanche, Sam, Blanche, Jr., and Fain. His children will always cherish the gifts he gave them: education, love of travel, skiing, life in Luxembourg, and an eager quest for adventure.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Celebrate Recovery, First Baptist Church of Covington, 16333 Highway 1085, Covington, LA 70433.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend a celebration of Buddy’s life at The Chapel at First Baptist Church of Covington, 16054 Murphy Rd, Covington, LA 70433 on Monday, March 6, 2023 at 11:00 AM with visitation beginning at 10:00 AM until service time. Interment will take place on Tuesday, March 7 at the Garb family plot in Rosehill Cemetery, New Iberia.
E. J. Fielding Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements. Please sign the online guestbook at www.ejfieldingfh.com.
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