OBITUARY FOR ELSIE HALL 1920-2023
Elsie Hall, formerly of Chestnut Hill Road in Rochester and 522 Sixth Street in Dover,
NH passed away peacefully on February 8, 2023 at Dover Center for Health and
Rehabilitation after a period of failing health. Elsie was 103 years old.
She was born on January 16, 1920 in South Portland, Maine, the daughter of Fred and
Delvina (Perreault) Shaw. Her birth coincided with the start of Prohibition and her long
life spanned the period between the trailing edges of two worldwide pandemics, the
Spanish Flu and Covid-19.
Elsie came from a close-knit family of six children who enjoyed doing things together.
After her 1939 marriage to the love of her life, Eddie Hall, their first child Rodney died
of a congenital defect soon after birth, but in 1943, after Eddie left for Europe to fight in
WW2, she was blessed with a healthy Christmas baby (Joanne) and later another
daughter (Linda) and then another son (Kim). She was a wonderful mom who made
sure her children had a healthy and happy childhood.
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Elsie worked for Spaulding Fiber Co. for 15 years and then for the Frisbie Hospital in
Rochester for 9 years as head housekeeper. She loved her job at Frisbie and retired at the
age of seventy. Elsie loved life and enjoyed shopping, dressing up in brightly colored
clothes and fancy shoes. She made sure she never left the house without her makeup and
jewelry.
Elsie also enjoyed cooking, sewing, music, singing and dancing. She was known to
make the best blueberry and apple pies, and delicious chocolate and peanut butter fudge,
which were her holiday specials.
When Elsie was 60 years old her mother Delvina won $100,000 in the Maine lottery and
gave the prize money to all her children. Elsie and her siblings Freddie, Ruthie and
Doreen ,and their spouses, had always enjoyed being at the beach together, so they used
the lottery winnings to finance yearly trips to Daytona Beach, Florida, up until Eddie's
untimely death in 1990. These last years with her husband were some of the happiest
times in her life.
Elsie’s secret to a long life was to get up, get moving and always keep singing and
dancing. Not one for idle contemplation of the past, she joined the Senior Center in
Dover after the passing of her husband and made many new friends. She traveled
extensively over a 10-year period to Florida, Hawaii, Sicily, Myrtle Beach, New York
City, Las Vegas, San Francisco, the Caribbean islands, and many trips to Foxwoods and
Mohegan Sun. If the bus was leaving, she was on it.
When Elsie was no longer able to live at home, she moved into Assisted Living homes:
Rosewood Manor in Gonic, Desiree’s Place in Rochester, and the Gafney Home in
Rochester. She loved meeting new people at the homes, along with the extra attention
and all the activities.
As her vigor and mobility declined with age, Elsie moved back to Dover so she could be
closer to her daughter Linda, who spent the last years of Elsie's life giving her an
absolutely tireless and unending devotion. At age 101 Elsie contracted a serious case of
the Covid-19 virus, but with the help of monoclonal antibody treatment she survived the
ordeal. Two years later, at the tender age of 103, she finally departed this material world
to be with her beloved husband Eddie in the fair fields of Elysium.
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Elsie was predeceased by her husband Edward, a son Rodney Hall, her brothers Roland
Shaw, Fred Shaw and his wife Becky, sisters Ruth and husband Galen Smith, sister Dot
and husband Roy Bailey and brother-in-law Paul Gross. She is survived by daughters
Joanne Sheppe and her husband Ronnie of Rochester, NH; Linda Williams and her
husband Jim of Rollinsford, NH; her son Kim Hall and wife Patty of North Carolina;
and by her much loved and equally vivacious sister Doreen Gross of York, Maine. Elsie
is also survived by 5 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren and 2 great-greatgrandchildren.
Elsie's daughter Linda would like to thank Brookhaven Hospice, Dr. Paul Berry and all
the wonderful and dedicated nurses and staff at Dover Center for Health and Rehab.
There will always be a special place in her heart for those who cared for her mother.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made, to Dover Rehabilitation & Living Center,
The Residents Activities Fund, 307 Plaza Drive, Dover N.H. 03820.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Purdy of Dover. For additional information,
see the Purdy website at www.purdyfuneralservice.com.