NANCY MAE EVANS HALL

Nancy Mae Evans-Hall, was born on September 21, 1922 in Starkville, Mississippi.  Her parents, George Evans and Mary Dell Austin were residents of the Needmore Community, one of Starkville's earliest African American neighborhoods. Nancy was the eldest with five siblings and an adopted cousin.

Nancy’s father, George Evans toured throughout the country  as a professional musician with the Rabbit’s Foot Band. He later went on to lead a dance hall band largely made up of family members. Nancy (on piano) and her siblings all played in the band.

Nancy was a country girl who grew up tending to chickens and vegetable gardens. As a child she listened to broadcasts from “the beautiful Savoy Ballroom on Lenox Avenue in Harlem” on the family’s Philco radio, imagining that the “streets were paved with gold.”  After graduating high school, Nancy attended nursing school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at the Stillman Institute - now Stillman College, an historically black college. Upon receiving her nursing credentials, Nancy took her first position with the Tampa Negro Hospital in Florida, her next positions were in New York at  Harlem and Mount Sinai Hospitals. While working at Harlem Hospital Nancy went down to Times Square to celebrate on V-J Day (the end of World War II).

Nancy met Freddie Roy Hall in Harlem in 1944. The couple courted and were married on January 8, 1946. They spent the next 73 years together until Freddie’s death on March 16, 2019. Nancy and Freddie had two daughters, Anita and Laverne while they lived in Harlem. In February 1954, while pregnant with their third child, Beverly, the family moved from Harlem to a house on Ferndale Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. Their fourth child Denise was born in 1956. The house is located around the corner from Brooks Memorial United Methodist Church. Nancy has been active in Brooks for many years working with the Girl Scouts, Sunday School and the Communion Stewards.

When Nancy retired from her job as a private duty registered nurse with Mount Sinai Hospital, she had more time to enjoy her friends, family and grandchildren who she showered with love, attention and support. At 101 and nine months she continued to enjoy listening to jazz, watching Bill Cosby tapes and remained engaged with her family and friends. Nancy’s kind and selfless spirit touched everyone’s life in her strong quiet  way. Her greatest joy was engaging with family and friends until the end. Nancy was survived by her four daughters, three siblings, cousins, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives too numerous to mention.

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