James Hall

Mr. James Donald (Jim) Hall of Bainbridge passed away on Monday, June 4th at an Atlanta hospital at the age of 74 after a long illness. There was a private burial in the Jones Family cemetery, followed by a memorial service on June 6th at Huey Funeral Home, in Canton, GA. Jim Hall was born in Tifton, GA on July 8,1932 to James Donald Hall and Drury Fuller Hall. He attended Orlando High School and graduated from the Kentucky Military Institute in Lyndon, Kentucky. He graduated from the University of Georgia, Terry School of Business with a degree in Accounting and the Banking School of the South at LSU. While at UGA, he was a member of Phi Delta Theta and played on the football team. He served for two years in the U.S. Army, stationed at Ft. Benning and played for the football team. He was married to Marion Jones of Canton. He began his career in Atlanta with an appointment by then-Governor Carl E. Sanders to the Georgia Department of Industry and Trade. His career took him to the Georgia coast, with a position as head of the Brunswick/Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce. He later headed up the "Committee of 100" of the Golden Isles. He was then hired by the Trust Company of Georgia in Atlanta to direct their Industrial Development Department. While working at Trust Co., he served as President of the Georgia Industrial Development Association, now the GEDA, and received a lifetime membership award after his tenure. He was promoted to First Vice President of Corporate Banking with the Trust Company. After 11 years with the bank in Atlanta, he was hired to be City President of First State Bank in Bainbridge. He loved the slower pace of Bainbridge, served as President of the Bainbridge Chamber of Commerce and as Chairman of the Bainbridge College Foundation. He was a member of the Bainbridge Country Club, Bainbridge Rotary Club and the First Methodist Church of Bainbridge. He was Chairman of the Decatur County Industrial Development Authority and served on several committees of the Georgia Banking Association. One of his proudest achievements was founding the Book Worm Golf Tournament in 1986, which still raises money for the Southwest Georgia Regional Library. He is survived by his wife Marion; son James "Jim" D. Hall III and daughter-in-law Anna Mitchell Hall of Decatur; daughter Molly Hall Nagy and son-in-law Sandor Nagy of Savannah; daughter Catherine Gossett and son-in-law Trey Gossett of Bainbridge; and grandson Jones Howard Gossett of Bainbridge. He is also survived by his brother Thomas Drury Hall, sister Gretchen Hall Mercer, both of Forsyth, GA, and many close cousins. Memorials can be made to the First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 541, Bainbridge, GA 39818 or to Bainbridge College Foundation, P.O. Box 990, Bainbridge, GA 39818.