Calvin Nelson Hall Obituary (1924

Calvin Nelson Hall, Sr., of Coleman, Texas passed from this life at the age of 96 years on Monday, March 15, 2021 at Methodist Hospital in Baytown, Texas after a short illness. Family visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 14 from 10:30 am until 11:30 am at Carnes Funeral Home in South Houston. Burial will follow at 2:00 pm at Houston National Cemetery. Calvin was born on November 21, 1924 in Linden, Cass County, Texas to William Nelson and Ava Ersa Snelgrove Hall, the second of four children. Calvin was raised in Houston, Texas where he attended schools and graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in 1942. Calvin served his country in World War II in the US Army Air Forces, the precursor to the US Air Force. They were assigned to the Pacific Theater and Calvin was trained as a top turret gunner on a B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber. After the end of the war, Calvin met Patsy Ruth Moore and they married in July 1948. He attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, California for three years. His skill as an artist landed him a job for a major electrical motor manufacturer. He learned the technique of using an airbrush and to work from an engineer's design specifications to produce an airbrush image of the finished product. These images were used in the company catalogs. After a few years, the couple moved to Macon, Georgia where their two sons, Calvin Jr. and Jesse were born. Calvin qualified for U. S. civil service, working in the engineers' office where he continued his airbrush work for the federal government. This was before Cape Canaveral was finished and he worked on some of their designs. He continued working as a draftsman for various companies for the rest of his career. Returning to Houston, he and Pat eventually divorced. On August 31, 1972 he married Margaret Marmas Loofs in Houston, Texas and they celebrated 47 years of marriage before her death in November of 2019. Calvin and Margaret were employed as managers of Rummel Creek Mini Storage for 14 years. They moved to Coleman in 2000. After retirement, Calvin began using oil as a medium for his artwork. He also excelled in pen and ink illustrations. Besides art, Calvin's other great passion was music. He always loved bluegrass and country music. He played several instruments including 5-string banjo, guitar and mandolin. As a pastime, he sang and recorded many songs. Survivors include his two sons, Calvin Hall, Jr and Jesse Hall of Houston, Texas; three grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Calvin was a mentor to his niece Sherry who is an extremely talented artist living in Clute, Texas. Calvin was preceded in death by his brother Kenneth in 2008, his sister, Florence, in 2009 and his brother and best friend Bill in 2017.