Sallie "Lucy" Lucille (Mills) Hall

Sallie Lucille Mills was the second of 5 children born to George Fountain and Pearl Ida Martin Mills. Lucy was born and raised on the 187-acre family farm in Patrick County, VA, and was proud of her family and her childhood helping the family grow and cure tobacco, harvest wheat, tend a large vegetable garden, and raise pigs, chickens, and cattle. The kids had chores before and after school and, during summer months, would help tend to the country store that George and Pearl built in 1922 and operated as a staple fixture of the community for the next 50 years.

The children attended the local Red Bank school, where Lucy was a very good student, was formidable on the school debate team, and excelled on the talented girls high school basketball team. As the school had no kindergarten and only 11 grades, Lucy graduated from high school at age 16. After graduation, she completed a Business Course Program to learn typing and shorthand, then studied at the Draughn Business College. When she graduated in 1942, the war was on, and Lucy worked at E.I. DuPont making nylon parachutes. When the war effort created a teacher shortage, Lucy returned home to Patrick County, VA, to her first love, teaching.

Lucy met Edward Lee Hall in elementary school. In those young years, Ed would reliably save a seat for Lucy on the school bus. Their friendship matured into a committed relationship by the time Ed was deployed as a Marine to the Pacific in 1940. During his furlough in 1944, they were married in York, SC, near his military base. When he returned from the war in 1945, Lucy and Ed bought their first house north of Winston Salem, NC, in Germanton.

On the 31st of August 1947, they gave birth to their daughter, Sandra Lee. Lucy took a job at Western Electric before making her career at Baptist Hospital. The family would move three more times before settling into their dream house on Regency Drive in Winston Salem.

Lucy and Ed treated themselves to trips to Cuba, California and Jamaica. But Lucy lost Ed to cancer in 1973 when he was 48 years old. Lucy retired at age 62, but continued to work part-time at the Hospital for a few more years. She moved to Brookridge Retirement Community in 2010 where her gregarious nature allowed her to blossom and thrive. Lucy was active in the Winston Salem First Baptist Church and reveled in a wide range of interests. She was a talented seamstress and knitter and loved making clothes, sweaters, blankets, and her daughter’s wedding dress. She volunteered at the Samaritan Kitchen, the Baptist Hospital, and as a docent at the Reynolda House. She enjoyed gardening, doing word puzzles, telling yarns, and reading. But above all, the joy of her life and strength of her character was her family.

Less than a month after exuberantly celebrating her 100th birthday with family and friends, Lucy experienced a stroke. She mercifully passed quickly and restfully to the other side, supported by family and hospice. Lucy was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Edward, and her siblings Charles H. Mills and Imogene “Jeannie” Mills Bingman. Lucy is survived by her sister Rachael Elizabeth Mills Duncan, her daughter and son-in-law Sandra and James Kesner, her granddaughters Leah Kathleen Woods and Amie Hall Woods, and her great granddaughter Savannah James Woods. Lucy’s sister, Annie Mae Mills Epperson also survived Lucy, but then passed away 6 days after Lucy.

A celebration of Lucy Hall’s life will be held at 11AM on Saturday the 8th of June 2024 at Vogler Funeral & Cremations at Forsyth Memorial Park , 3815 Yadkinville Road, Winston Salem, NC 27106. The service will be followed by a graveside gathering, and then lunch (RSVP to 513.218.3293). In lieu of flowers, please honor Lucy with acts of kindness. You may also make a donation in honor of Lucy to the First Baptist Church on Fifth (https://firstonfifth.org/) or Trellis Supportive Care (https://www.trellissupport.org/).