Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home

ST. GEORGE – A. True Hall, 87, long time St. George resident, died peacefully April 25, 2018 at Knox Center for Long Term Care in Rockland.

Born in St. George, July 10, 1930, he was the son of Almond Caleb Hall and Etta MacKay Hall. True attended local schools, graduating from St. George High School, and afterwards attended Husson College in Bangor, earning a degree in Business Administration. Upon returning from college he married his high school sweetheart, Shirley Lehtinen, on October 27, 1949. Their love and commitment deepened over their 67 years together. True and Shirley made their home in St. George, where he was a life-long member and Deacon of the First Baptist Church of St. George. True, a member of the Wiley’s Corner Grange, a Mason and member of the Tenants Harbor IOOF, achieved his 50-year pin from each. He was also a life-time member of the Maine Association of Realtors.

True’s early years were spent on the farm and later in Hall’s Market, the grocery store opened in 1946 by his mother and father in Tenants Harbor. In 1956 he began a career in real estate and insurance brokerage. After his father’s death in 1968, True alongside his mother, continued to operate Hall’s Market and was often seen behind the meat counter and delivering groceries. From the small back corner office in the Market, he welcomed real estate and insurance customers. In 1972 while still operating the Market, he expanded the realty business, moving the offices to what is now 13 Mechanic Street and soon thereafter brought son Ron and Tim Holmes into the business. A few years later, family friends, Tim and Gaby Holmes, began operating the market and in 1981 True sold the property to them. He retired after 50 years in the realty business, a profession he thoroughly enjoyed.

During the early years of raising his family, with the help of his children and other neighborhood kids, he mowed the Wiley’s Corner cemetery, and made wreaths to deliver to Boston to sell for the Christmas season. You would also see him driving the school bus and tending the laundromat business he began with his father-in-law, Hugo A Lehtinen, Sr.

True and Shirley liked to travel, taking trips abroad and across the country, and spending many winters in Sarasota, Florida. They enjoyed a wide circle of friends and loved hosting parties and gatherings at the house in Wiley’s Corner, at the cottage on Barter’s Point and in Sarasota. Once he and Shirley learned to dance, they rarely missed a Saturday night event with the Foxtrot being their favorite. In the fall of the year True would always find time for hunting with his family and friends both locally and up north at Dead River. In the warmer months he enjoyed following the Red Sox, playing horseshoes and croquet on the cottage lawn. He had a competitive spirit and loved playing games. He was a fierce Parcheesi player. For many years a favorite pastime was fishing for smelts at various locations around the peninsula and later he enjoyed trips away to Sportsman’s Rest Camp on East Carry Pond.

True was an avid reader, enjoying every Louis L’Amour novel ever published as well as Agatha Christie and other mystery stories. He was a great story teller, loved meeting new people, having barn sales, driving one of his old cars in the Memorial Day parade and playing 63 with the brothers on Tuesday nights. A highlight of his later years was the purchase of a John Deere tractor and mowing his fields.

Predeceased by his wife, Shirley who passed away January 30, 2017, True is survived by his children, Gerald ‘Jerry’ Hall and his wife Suzanne, Glenn Hall and his wife Cindy May, Sandra Hall and her husband Dan MacCaffray, Ron Hall and his wife Jane, Diane Hall, and Jenny Hall Maltais and her husband John Maltais, all of St. George; his 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, his sister-in-law Connie Lehtinen of Tenants Harbor; and his niece Sally Lehtinen of Portland.

Family and friends are invited to visit from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, May 24, 2018 at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland, Maine. A funeral service and celebration of life will be held at the First Baptist Church of St. George, 15 Snow’s Point Road, St. George, at 11:00 a.m., Friday, May 25, 2018. A reception will follow immediately at Echo Hill, 29 Echo Hill Road, St. George.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Baptist Church of St. George, 33 Wiley’s Corner Road, St. George, ME 04860; or to the Community Development Corporation, PO Box 160, Tenants Harbor, ME 04860 for the benefit of the St. George School.

The Hall family would like to greatly acknowledge the love, caring and support of the staff at the Knox Center for their many years of love and exceptional care given to True. He loved you as much as you loved him, and we sincerely appreciate all you have done.