Donald Wayne Hall

Donald Wayne Hall, 81, died peacefully on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, surrounded by family at his home in Morning Star Senior Living in Lone Tree, Colorado. After graciously navigating the past three years with Parkinson's and Lewy Body disease, he was unable to recover from a brief struggle with pneumonia.

Don was born March 30, 1938 in Oklahoma City, the youngest child of Bailey and Lois (Green) Hall. When he was 10, the family moved to Pasadena, California, where he spent the rest of his boyhood filled with family, faith and football (along with every other sport). In eighth grade at Marshall Jr. High, he met his life-long sweetheart, Sonja Hjalland, and they dated throughout their time at Pasadena High, where he starred in multiple sports, debate and student government. He attended Dartmouth College briefly, but a football injury and his love for Sonja pulled him back to finish his undergraduate degree at Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University). They were married after their freshman year, on August 12, 1957, and graduated together in 1960. They then moved to Iowa City for Don to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology at the University of Iowa, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1963, at the age of 25.

After post-graduate training at the University of Colorado, Boulder, his career spanned posts from coast to coast, with positions in academia (professor and chaplain), private and group practice counseling, pastoral and counseling ministries, and even some years in real estate development and corporate consulting. He was a frequent speaker at conferences and retreats, particularly addressing marriage and family issues, as well as areas of Christian faith and growth. He penned two manuscripts - one on God's plan for marriage and another on the fruit of the Spirit - based on his teaching and speaking. The latter, Cultivating Christian Character, was published in 2018, in honor of his 80th birthday.

Don's personal life was equally rich and full of adventures... he spontaneously ran a 10K in Rome, shopped in a Saudi gold market, fished in a Norwegian fjord, skied the slopes from Keystone and Aspen to Lake Louise, and played in a Pro-Am golf tournament in Maui. He had a great sense of humor and loved to play jokes, and he never met a competition that he didn't want to win. However, his real love was in building relationships, as evidenced by the deep connections he maintained with so many friends, colleagues and extended family, scattered across the country and globe. In the many places they called home over the years, from Estes Park and Colorado Springs to San Diego, Kansas City, D.C. or Scottsdale, he developed many cherished life-long friends, because he loved people so intentionally and generously. He had a brilliant mind, along with a thoughtful, attentive and tender-hearted spirit, and so became a trusted advisor to those who knew him. And most importantly, as each of his children and grandkids will attest, he lavishly and faithfully loved his family and in loving others, joyfully served his Lord.

Don is survived by Sonja, his beloved wife of 62 years; his three daughters and sons-in-law, Kim and Bob Feehs, Pam and Scott Celley and Karen and Joe Hanlin; his nine grandchildren and three spouses, as well as four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his stepmother Elizabeth (Alexander) Hall, his brother Maurice Hall and sister Rudene (Hall) Jones, and an infant daughter, Kathryn Denise.

Memorial services are currently postponed until further notice, but will be rescheduled at a future to-be-determined date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Young Life: https://giving.younglife.org/DonaldHall