Albert D. Hall, M.D.
1928 - 2021
Albert Hall passed away on January 29th of natural causes in his family home of 54 years in Kentfield. Albert was born in San Jose, California. He worked hard in school in his childhood home of Cupertino, California, and in the cherry, apricot, pear and prune orchards of the Santa Clara valley. His brothers were avid small plane pilots, and he enjoyed flying with them above San Jose. At age 16, Albert graduated as Valedictorian of Fremont High School, where his father, Verne Hall Sr., was the principal (and later superintendent of the Fremont Union High School district).
Albert began his undergraduate studies at San Jose State University, transferring his sophomore year to UC Berkeley, where he decided to pursue a career in medicine, inspired by a summer mentorship as an ambulance driver in Yosemite Valley. Playing clarinet and piano, Albert enjoyed campus life as a resident of Bowles Hall, and was an enthusiastic member of the Cal Marching Band. At Cal, he met Shirley in Biology class, and together they became medical doctors at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); Albert would later be honored as UCSF Alumnus of the Year in 2004. Married in 1952, Albert and Shirley celebrated 68+ happy years together.
Albert served honorably as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force medical corps after the Korean conflict, stationed in Japan with his young family, before he returned to San Francisco where he became an accomplished Cardiothoracic, Vascular and General surgeon, serving as Chief of the Surgical Service at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital at Fort Miley in the 1960’s. Albert was also a clinical Professor of Surgery at UCSF, where he continued to teach into his 80’s.
Dr. Hall contributed many important clinical scientific papers to the medical literature, most notably, concerning axillo-femoral bypass graft surgery (with his lifelong friend and colleague, the late Dr. F. William Blaisdell). Later, he designed and built one of the first hyperbaric oxygen chambers on the West Coast.
During the mid-1960s, Albert and Shirley moved the family to Kentfield in Marin County, where Albert opened a private surgical practice in Greenbrae. He became Chief of Surgery at Marin General Hospital, where he continued to practice into his 70’s. Always dedicated to his patients, the staff at “MGH” dubbed him the “grey ghost,” as he was often seen working at all hours caring for his patients, whether performing an intricate operation, or wheeling a patient down to X-ray. Through the years, Albert served as President of the California Academy of Medicine, the Naffziger Surgical Society, the San Francisco Surgical Society, and numerous other professional organizations. Albert was trusted, respected and beloved by his patients, students, colleagues, and friends – a “surgeon’s surgeon.”
Albert loved Yosemite and the time he spent in the Sierra Nevada, sharing his love of the outdoors with his family. Ever inquisitive and adventurous, he was an avid reader, photographer, and videographer. He drove his family thousands of miles through the Pacific Northwest on epic summer camping trips. From 1960 through the mid-70’s, he served as Camp Doctor at the Lair of the Golden Bear, an annual family tradition. In later years, Albert taught himself and his children small craft sailing on Pinecrest Lake. Also, he rekindled his musical spirits by joining the clarinet section of the Las Gallinas Sanitary District non-marching Band. Especially in retirement, he and Shirley enjoyed travelling the US and World together. In these past two years, the family wishes to express special appreciation and thanks to Albert’s devoted caregiver, Sandra Abarca.
The youngest of four, Albert is preceded in death by his two brothers, Verne (“Jim”), J. Elton, and sister Elizabeth. He is survived by his beloved wife Shirley Hall, children Gregory J. Hall (Mary Beth), Nadine Hall Wittry (Jim), Nancy Hall, and David Hall (Julie Albert), his four grandchildren, Casey Albert-Hall, Ashlyn AlbertHall, Annelise Albert-Hall and Elaine Wittry, and his extended family; all will always love and miss him.
The family will be holding a remembrance at a later date.