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Deacon Harry Hall of Bristol parish dies

Deacon Harry Hall, of St. Anne parish in Bristol and the senior deacon of the Diocese of Richmond in terms of service in the diaconate, died June 11 after a series of long illnesses. He was 80.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated Monday, June 16, at 6 p.m. at St. Anne Church in Bristol, followed by burial in the church cemetery on the church grounds. Father Timothy Keeney, pastor, will preside. Msgr. J. Kenneth Rush, the diocese’s Vicar for the Western Vicariate, will concelebrate, representing Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo.

Deacon Hall’s family will receive visitors at the church on Monday from 4 to 6 p.m. A 24-hour vigil with the body of Deacon Hall was to begin on Sunday at 4 p.m. with prayers of the Office of the Dead at 5.

The funeral will be held on the 29th anniversary of Mr. Hall’s ordination to the permanent diaconate on June 16, 1979 for the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn.

Within a month of the ordination he moved to Bristol and was later incardinated into the Diocese of Richmond. During his tenure at St. Anne’s, he served under three pastors — Father Walter Lewis, now pastor of St. Mary’s, Richmond; Father Thomas Ianucci, now a chaplain at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and Father Keeney.

“Harry was such a vital part of the parish through marriages and funerals and he was chaplain to the Knights of Columbus,” Father Keeney told The Catholic Virginian.

“He worked like a trojan and was always willing to learn new things,” the priest added, pointing out that each year he attended a seminar on preaching.

Deacon Hall became ill at the retreat for permanent deacons in Lynchburg last September. His last visit to the church was on Holy Thursday when he brought forward the Oil of the Sick at the Mass of the Last Supper, seated in a wheelchair.

“Just a month before he collapsed last September he won the USPA Tennessee State Tennis Championship,” Father Keeney said. He added that he was a cancer survivor but treatment for cancer had brought new health complications.

Deacon Hall is survived by his wife, Pat, of Bristol; a son, Hank Hall, of Greenville, S.C.; two daughters, Julie Sykes and Cathy Siksay, both of Bristol, and several grandchildren.

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