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His final acts of kindness were just a continuation of a lifetime of service that brought him the esteem of his townspeople and enduring popularity. In 1997 hundreds of townspeople thronged through Douglas Library to pay homage to him on his 90th birthday and 10 years later, noting that he had devoted "hundreds and hundreds of hours to our town," Canaan's selectmen declared his 100th birthday to be Fred Hall Day, dedicating the annual town report to him. Geer Village was crowded with well-wishers who came to congratulate him.
Mr. Hall was involved in a wide range of community activities. Former owner of Fuller Hardware in Canaan, he served as president of the Connecticut Hardware Association, was a director of the Canaan Savings Bank, was treasurer of the North Canaan Congregational Church for 43 years, and was a volunteer with the North Canaan Volunteer Fire Company. He was an adviser for the Girl and Boy Scouts and the Future Farmers of America at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. He also served on the building committee for the Canaan Elementary School, volunteered with the Canaan Little League and was a member of the Canaan Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he served on town and regional school advisory panels and, with his wife, volunteered his time at the Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center before moving to Geer Village.
In 1990, he began a new job as Canaan town historian and eventually donated his large collection of photographs, documents and memorabilia to the town. He was an active historian, working on an extensive oral history project, helping to preserve the Beckley iron furnace, transcribing inscriptions in the town's oldest cemeteries and mapping the gravestones, cataloguing his own collection of pictures and recording his memories of each image. He was a sought-after speaker, packing meetings of civic organizations whenever he appeared to give his presentation on old Canaan.
Fred Hall was born in neighboring Ashley Falls, Mass., May 23, 1907, the sixth and youngest child of George and Sarah Hall. After graduating from Sheffield High School in 1924, he became an apprentice at General Electric's Pittsfield, Mass., transformer plant. When the Depression hit, many of the single young men working there were laid off, and Mr. Hall found work as a chauffeur for two couples living in Maine who spent winters in Florida.
In 1934, he joined the staff of Fuller Hardware and a year later, he married his wife, the former Priscilla Soule, then a teacher in Sheffield. They moved to Canaan, where they raised their three children. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy on a destroyer escort in the Atlantic and Pacific.
Mr. Hall, who remained trim throughout his life, was able to wear his Naval uniform until two years ago, attending annual Memorial Day ceremonies. In 1998, he was parade marshal, sharing the honor with the Rev. Russell Milnes, also a veteran of World War II. For decades Mr. Hall raised and lowered the American flag behind the town's war memorial, stopping on his way from work to perform the task, considering it a patriotic duty to the community. He was recognized for this service by a small monument near the war memorial.
As recently as last month, the Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Freemasons honored him at his home in Geer Village for 80 years membership in the fraternity.
It was perhaps his role as the genial shopkeeper behind the counter of Fuller Hardware that most fully enshrined him in Canaan's memory, however. There he held court, bantering with customers who shared his sense of humor, gently teasing young children who came in with their parents and providing all the necessities of small town life. In an interview conducted with him for the oral history project he recalled the bonhomie of those days, when his store would stay open until 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve as families with gifts laid away for the holiday rushed in to pick them up. "He would often open the store on a Sunday if someone was doing a home project and found they needed something," his son, Dan Hall recalled.
During his years in the store he progressed from clerk, to partner, and finally became owner upon the death of his brother-in-law, Allyn Fuller. He sold the business in 1977.
Mr. Hall is survived by his children, Daniel W. Hall and his wife, Ann, of Andover, Mass., and their sons, Christopher and Jonathan; his daughter Pat Graf and her partner, Dave Martin, of Canaan; and daughter Shirley Barton and her husband, Gerald Barton, of Ancram, N.Y., their sons, Jeffrey and Michael, and their wives, Lisa and Donna. He also has four great-grandsons. He was predeceased by another grandson, David Graf.
A memorial service will be held tomorrow at 11 a.m. at North Canaan Congregational Church in East Canaan.
