Obituary of Mrs. Nancy M. Hall

Hall, Nancy Margaret (nee Griffin)

It is with sadness that we say goodbye to our mother, grandmother and our friend Nancy, who died peacefully in her 90^th year on Saturday August 31^st. Nancy is survived by her son Peter Allan Hall and grandson Robert William Hall and her steadfast circle of friends.

Nancy was born to Jean Hepburn McDonald and Glennirvin John Griffin on March 16, 1929 in Montreal, Quebec. Her parents moved to Bessborough Ave., in Toronto, when Nancy was a teenager. Nancy graduated from Leaside High School, where she made many close friends who are still her friends today. 

Nancy was a proud Alumnus of Victoria College, University of Toronto. A keen student of history and the arts, she reminisced often about her courses with Northrop Frye and Frank Underhill. After graduating with a BA in history, she went on to complete a Bachelor of Library Science, again at U of T, and started work as a librarian at the Toronto Public Library (TPL) immediately after graduation.

After meeting and marrying a Royal Military College graduate, Peter E. Hall, Nancy moved to Scarborough. Finding herself a single mother in the early 1960’s, she went back to work part-time at the TPL.

Nancy had a fine appreciation of classical music and jazz honed throughout her life  (she was a devotee of the pianist Richard Goode) and amassed a wonderful music collection. She also collected Canadian art and books, along with her great friend Diana B. Mason, whom she met when Di hired her to work for the Scarborough Public Library (SPL) in the 1970s.

Nancy rose to the position of Deputy Director of SPL and went on to hold the position of CEO of the Etobicoke Public Library for more than a decade until her retirement.

A life-long interest in history, in particular the cultures of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium, took Nancy on many of her travel adventures. The highlights remained the ruins across the Mediterranean, especially in Turkey, Syria, and Sicily.

A member of the United Church, Nancy was heavily involved at Glen Ayr United Church in Scarborough for more than 50 years, where she held various volunteer positions.

A donation to Knox United Church, the church she attended at the time of her death, or to the charity of your choice would be welcome.