Delores M. Hall, a former city public schools educational assistant who was active in the affairs of her church, died of complications from dementia Aug. 20 at FutureCare Old Court in Randallstown.
She was 97.
The daughter of Jesse Stanley, an insurance salesman, and Gladys Thomas Stanley, a homemaker, Delores Mae Stanley was born and raised in Baltimore. She graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1935.
In the late 1930s, she married Riley Joe Hammond, a White Coffee Pot chef, and had three daughters. The marriage ended in divorce.
She later married Ellwood Lewis Hall Sr., owner of Hall and Hoyle Florists on Saratoga Street, and had two more children. They raised their family in the 1500 block of Presstman St., and later moved to the 600 block of N. Longwood St.
Mr. Hall died in 2007.
Mrs. Hall worked part time as a server at the old Hutzler's department store's Quixie restaurant and later was an educational assistant at Mount Royal Elementary School.
"Delores was able to find joy and a silver lining in almost every situation," wrote Traci Wright, a granddaughter, in a biographical sketch of Mrs. Hall. "She laughed often, praised the Lord and made self-effacing jokes: 'You know, I used to be cute!' and 'I've been in your shoes, but you haven't been in mine.'"
She was proud of her children and grandchildren, said Ms. Wright, who is dean of students at The Park School of Baltimore.
One of her sons was among the first black students to graduate from St. Paul's School, and later became a lieutenant colonel in the Army. A daughter was 26 when she earned her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley and was named an associate dean at Towson University — though she died before starting the job.
A granddaughter was the first black woman to head a division at the Bryn Mawr School; another became a successful IBM executive.
"All of this from an African-American woman who had a high school education," Ms. Wright noted.
Mrs. Hall was a former member of Sharp Street United Methodist Church, then for 50 years was an active member of John Wesley United Methodist Church. As her health declined, she worshipped at Shiloh Community Church with her son.
She had lived for years at Parkview Apartments in Randallstown until moving to FutureCare Old Court in 2013.
Ms. Wright said that while Mrs. Hall was a woman of modest means, she often lent money to neighbors to keep them going until payday, and children would come by and enjoy her company and share her candy and other goodies.
"She was a lifelong reader and always placed a high value on education," Ms. Wright said.
Funeral services for Mrs. Hall will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at her church, 3202 W. North Ave.
In addition to her granddaughter, she is survived by a son, Ellwood Lewis Hall Jr. of Columbia; two daughters, Linda Elaine Wright of Pikesville and Romaine Patricia Pollard of Baltimore; seven other grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and four great-great-granddaughters. One daughter, Lavinia Grace Hammond, died in 1974, and another daughter, Dolores Mae Ali, died in 2014.