CULPEPER—After a brief illness, Geneva Bowman Hall died December 10, 2018, at her residence at the Culpeper Retirement Community in Culpeper. She was 99 years old.
She is survived by her two sons, Walter and Robert, and their spouses, Jean and Ella; five grandchildren, Walter Randall “Randy” III, Stephen, Lindsey, Thomas, and William and the spouses of Randy and Steve, Gretchen and Lauren; and three great-grandchildren, Andrew, Elle Marie and Alexa.
She was predeceased by her husband, Walter Randall, in 2003; and her daughter, Debra Lynn, in 2010.
Geneva was known to her friends as Jill. She was born in the District of Columbia in 1919. Her parents were Violet and Bert Bowman.
She graduated from Wilson’s Teachers College in 1941. She was always interested in education and taught third grade at Maury and Edmonds Elementary Schools in D.C. for several years.
During the final years of World War II, Jill supported the war effort by working in several capacities in industry and the federal government to support military aircraft development and operation.
In 1947, she married Walter R. Hall, and they settled in Arlington, where they raised their three children.
After a number of years attending to her growing children, she returned to teaching at Taylor Elementary School in Arlington starting in 1960. In 1968, after earning a master’s in school administration from George Washington University, she accepted the challenge of serving as principal of Hollin Hall Elementary School in Fairfax County in 1968. She transferred to Belle View Elementary in 1976 also as principal, and retired in 1978.
She and Walter moved to the Northern Neck of Virginia in 1979, living outside the town of Lively on the Rappahannock River. Geneva and Walter were active members of the Bethel Methodist Church in Lively.
They moved to join their daughter Debra in her house in Newport News in 1996, and then to Williamsburg in 1998.
They moved again in 2002 to the Culpeper Baptist Retirement Community (now The Culpeper) in Culpeper.
A memorial service will be held at Bethel United Methodist Church in Lively, early during the week of December 16.
Memorial gifts in her honor may be made to either Bethel United Methodist Church, or The Culpeper. Contact 703-963-4875 for specific time and other details.
