Wanda Lea Hall's Obituary
Wanda Lea Hall
January 11, 1923 ~ October 15, 2015
Wanda Lea Hall passed away October 15, 2015 in Portland Oregon, where she has been a resident at Marquis Care Autumn Hills for the past several months.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, October 31, 2015 at Sunset Park Community Church, 174 Sunset Blvd, St. Helens, Oregon, with luncheon to follow.
Wanda was born on January 11, 1926 in Rhea, Arkansas to Ralph M Bunnell, Sr and Doris Ann (Phelan) Bunnell. When she was still a small child, the family moved to Fresno, California, where she attended both Pinedale School and Roeding School, and also worked in the harvest fields there, during the years surrounding the Great Depression.
She moved to St. Helens in 1941. During the war years she worked as a welder in the local ship yard. Later, she served as cook and waitress at the Kozy Korner Restaurant, where she met Bruce Hall, who would later become her husband. They were married on December 31, 1951.
In the years that followed she found time to raise 5 children, and she spent many joyful hours grooming the family’s 2 ½ acres of property on upper Gable Road. Wanda loved trees and flowers and took great delight in maintaining a park-like setting for family and friends to enjoy.
She had numerous artistic skills, and was an accomplished seamstress. She was especially adept at designing and sewing costumes for her children to wear in both scholastic and extra-curricular activities.
She was an imaginative cake decorator and loved the challenge of visualizing and creating meaningful culinary sculptures for various significant occasions.
Wanda was a partner with her husband in the formation and operation of New Way Moving and Storage when Bruce “retired” from the L C Hall freight line in 1982. They built a new warehouse on Milton Way and served the community for eleven years in the building that now houses the school buses for Durham School Services.
Together with Bruce she served in the work of The Gideons International ministry for many years, distributing Bibles both at home and abroad, and was always ready to share her personal journey of faith in Jesus Christ with anyone who was willing to listen. Her familiar “John 3 3” license plate pointed many a gas station attendant to Jesus’ counsel that “You must be born again” when they inquired about its meaning.
She is survived by her son Ken Hall (Amelia) and daughter Barbara Adams (Jim), stepdaughter Susan Carstens, Australian ‘daughter’ Rhonda Potter (Mal), brother Ralph M Bunnell, Jr, grandchildren Alice Buss (Ben), Kristy Lomax (Todd), Jill Gulbranson (Michael), Ryan Hall, Jennifer Hall Higgins, Danielle Hall, Jason Hall, Calaine and Cyndi (Wilson), Australian ‘grandson’ Blake Ferguson (Sara) and Australian ‘granddaughter’ Sally Potter, and fourteen great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband K. Bruce Hall, Sr., her sisters V. Faye Evans and Frances Carter, sister-in-law Mickey Bunnell, sons Rick, Randy and Charles Hall, and great grandson Taylor.
Memorial contributions may be made to Gideons International or Sunset Park Community Church. Various Gideon contribution forms are available at most churches. Wanda would be delighted to know that scriptures were being placed in her remembrance.
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