May Hall

March 1, 1929 - September 30, 2019
May passed away peacefully at the age of 90 on September 30th, 2019 at the Palliative Care Unit at Nanaimo General Hospital with her family at her side.
May was born on March 1, 1929 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, the second youngest of thirteen children, to Kenneth and Edith Atkinson. She grew up on the family farm outside of Prince Albert and then with her parents and younger brother, Herb, in the city of Prince Albert. She graduated high school in Prince Albert and soon after married Jack Hall. In 1949, May and Jack and their first child, Dan, moved to Nanaimo, BC. They settled there and had two more children, Susan and Gordon. Jack was a mechanic in those early days and then for many years was a car salesman leading to he and May starting their own business, Jay-T Auto Sales Ltd. in the early 1960's. May left the selling to Jack and kept the company's books. They eventually sold the business and moved to Port Alberni in 1974 to purchase a mobile home park. They were joined by younger son Gordon and later by Dan. Susan, after retirement, with her husband Gordon, worked with them at the mobile home park as well. In 1998 the park was sold and May and Jack retired to Nanaimo, living in Cedar. After 65 years of marriage, Jack passed away in 2013 and the following year May moved into the Nanaimo Kiwanis Village. She was very happy there and as was her way, she made new friends and participated in everything Kiwanis had to offer.
May was an active member of the Kinsmen Club from the early 1950's right up until her passing. She was also an active member of the Catholic Women's League in Port Alberni and Nanaimo, every year knitting children's clothes for the Church's various charities.
Both May and Jack came from large prairie families explaining their life-long dedication to their family. Their home was the gathering place for family dinners and parties at all times of the year. Family was always joined by large groups of new and life-long friends. As kids their home was always open to our friends giving us the example of a loving family to shape us as we grew.
May was pre-deceased by her parents and all her twelve brothers and sisters. Left to mourn her passing are her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Glen and Eileen Hall here in Nanaimo, along with her children Dan and Catherine Hall of Nanaimo, BC, Susan and Gordon Gauthier of Ottawa, Ontario and Gordon and Mavis Hall of Hope, BC along with grandchildren David (Andrea), Kimberly, Colin (Jessica), Derek (Teresa), Stacie (Cole) and Stephanie (John). As well May was blessed with great grandchildren Ezra, Asher, Dayenaira, Atticus, Heidi, Georgia, Kiana and Micah.
May is missed every day and the family is asking all who knew her to come and join us in a Celebration of her life on February 29, 2020 at the Nanaimo Curling Club, 106 Wall Street, Nanaimo, BC at 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. In order to help us plan, please let us know if you will be able to attend.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in her name to the Palliative Care Unit at the Nanaimo Regional Hospital. They demonstrated an incredible level of compassion and afforded May the dignity that she deserved.