Frank Sumner Hall

Frank Sumner Hall was born to Catherine and John T. Hall on October 26, 1932. Frank was predeceased by his parents, as well as his brother James C. (Jim) Hall and his sister Lucymae Clausen. Frank is survived by his older brother (just 10 months older) John T. Hall, his son F. Scott Hall, and his daughters Lisa Ann McLeod and Diana Kay Faryniarz. He is also survived by his beloved grandchildren Molly Hall, Emily Hall-Frish, Quinn Faryniarz, Tess Faryniarz, Bree Faryniarz, and Stephen Kilpatrick. Most notably, Frank is survived by his beloved and devoted wife of 61 years, Jewel Ann Hall.

An Iowa native, Frank graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, and attended Iowa State University where he received top marks in all of his classes except one, according to a story conveyed to his daughter. Ironically, this was a math class in his senior year, where the story goes that the professor refused to have a graduate complete all courses with A’s, so the professor gave Frank a “C”. His college was paid twice over by two scholarships, an academic scholarship and a NROTC scholarship according to a story conveyed to his son. Upon graduating he had sufficient extra money to loan his brother John the down-payment for his first house.

Upon graduating from Iowa State in 1954, Frank joined the Navy as an officer as was his plan, always intending to become a naval aviator. Frank was a Naval pilot for 20 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander before retiring in 1974. He served in Korea and Vietnam, doing three cruises to Viet Nam during the conflict, on the USS Enterprise (1965-1966, and 1966-1967) and the USS Coral Sea (1971-1972). He made over 550 carrier landings, half of those at night. He also taught flying while in the Navy. He rarely spoke of this time, but upon seeing Vietnam Era exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum, commented to his son after seeing a map of the theatre of conflict, “Saigon; I spent 3 Christmases in Saigon”).

During his time in the military, in their usual wisdom, the Navy decided he could no longer fly with corrected vision, so he entered a program to study advanced sciences (chemistry) at the University of Minnesota and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, with two important consequences: he met the woman who would become his wife in Monterrey, and his son was born in Minneapolis. Not long before his son was born, he received a telegram from the Navy: not only could he fly again, but he would need to leave his graduate program to pick up the Enterprise in Alameda the month after his son was born. During shore duty in Hawaii he had his second child, Lisa, and his last child Diana after retiring in San Diego, his last duty station. During his time in Hawaii, he flew WWII era Japanese Zeroes for the movie “Tora, Tora, Tora” along with many of his fellow pilots, and went to the premier in Hollywood with his wife, Jewel.

Upon retiring from the Navy Frank embarked on a new career. His first graduate program had resulted in a Master’s Degree in Chemistry, and his second stint a Master’s Degree in Mathematics from the University of California, San Diego. Over the next 40 years he taught math, chemistry, and other sciences in several high schools in the San Diego school system, Mission Bay, La Jolla, and Madison high schools, as well as at Taft Community College, City College of San Diego, and Mesa College. He was a dedicated teacher, beloved by his students because he cared about their success, working especially to help his least advantaged, most struggling students succeed. He spent many extra hours working with his students and changed many lives. He was also very proud of the Scientific Olympiad students that he coached.

Frank was known to his family to be kind and gentle, with a voracious sweet tooth. He was incredibly intelligent and had a soft spot for wayward pets. His grandchildren fondly remember many visits to the zoo, and trips on the Skyfari. And many hours spent as lifeguard in the pool.

A Military Honors service will take place at Miramar National Cemetery on October 3 at 10:15, interment to follow at Miramar National Cemetery.