Marion L. Hall, 75, a former Washington D.C. based Transportation Consultant and avid volunteer died December 11, 2007 at Cherrydale Health & Rehabilitation Center in Arlington, Va. from complications related to an eight year battle with Parkinson's disease. He had been a resident of McLean since 1971.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Joyce Kidd Hall of McLean, three sons, David L. Hall of Houston, TX, Scott M. Hall (Lynn) of McLean and J. Timothy Hall (Rebecca) of Raleigh, Nc., eight grandchildren (Jeremy L. Hall and Lauren R. Hall, both of Houston, Matthew R. Hall, Gregory Hall, Andrew Hall and Mary Kate Hall, all of McLean and Sierra A. Hall and T. Carter Hall both of Raleigh) and a sister, Nell Ruth Clark of Abbeville, Sc. He was preceded in death by his brother, O.T. Hall, Jr. of Dallas, Tx.
For a period spanning more than three decades, Mr. Hall consulted for many New Jersey based passenger bus transit firms and was considered the foremost authority on railroad freight cost analysis. He gained considerable experience working as an accountant and analyst on the east coast for the Seaboard Airline Railroad (now CSX Transportation) from 1949 to 1964 before moving to St. Louis, Mo. to work for the Missouri Pacific Railroad (now a division of the Union Pacific Railroad) from 1964 to 1970.
Mr. Hall's expertise was broadened during his tenure at the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington, D.C. where he served as Chief of the Cost Analysis Branch before re-entering the Washington area private sector, first as a consultant for the firm of Snavely, King & Tucker and later as a partner in G.W. Fauth & Associates. In 1975 Mr. & Mrs. Hall established M. L. Hall & Associates Transportation Consultants in McLean and for the next thirty years provided business and cost analysis services to both railroads and freight shippers utilizing rail service, the passenger bus industry and state, regional and local governmental entities. Mr. Hall often appeared as an expert witness in legal and regulatory proceedings involving the railroad industry.
Mr. Hall's community service career began in the 1960's while living in the suburbs of St. Louis where he was twice elected to the School Board of the Pattonville District and also served as a deacon of Fee Fee Baptist Church.
In the late 1980's, after transportation deregulation eliminated much of the need for the Halls' consulting services, Mr. Hall's volunteer service in the Washington area began in earnest. He served for fifteen years as treasurer for Meals on Wheels of Eastern Fairfax during which time he also volunteered as the treasurer of a Presidential Political Campaign, a security aide for Presidential Inaugural Festivities, an aide in the White House Correspondence Office, deacon of McLean Baptist Church and vice-president of the McLean House condominium association.
Mr. Hall was a native of Haldeman, KY and a 1949 graduate of Thomas Dale High School in Chester, Va. where he met Mrs. Hall. One year after their marriage in 1951, Mr. Hall was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in a personnel office in Japan during the Korean War with the 101st Infantry. He obtained the rank of Sergeant with the 1st Calvary Division before returning to civilian life in 1954.
In June 1958, one week after the birth of his second son, Mr. Hall graduated from the University of Richmond with multiple honors. He was the recipient of the Charles T. Norman medal as the outstanding graduate from the School of Business Administration, senior class president, Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity president, secretary of the Honor Council and the Society for Advancement of Management, and a member of the Alpha Society, the Dean's List and the Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity. His graduate level studies included the School of Transportation at Northwestern University.
The Halls also started and oversaw the operations of three retail videotape rental stores in Great Falls, Herndon and Sterling Park from 1984 to 1990. Mr. Hall's hobbies included collecting railroad memorabilia, researching the civil war and real estate investing.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 22, 2007 at McLean Baptist Church, 1367 Chain Bridge Road, McLean, Va. 22101. Friends will be received at a reception in the church parlor immediately after the service. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions in Marion's name to the Organ Fund at McLean Baptist Church.
