Florine Hall

In the wee hours of January 16, 1925, Willie and Marie Hardie welcomed their daughter, Florine Pettus, into the world of rural Halifax County Virginia. She was their first surviving child. On April 19, 2020, Florine departed this life as the last surviving child of Willie and Marie. Being a staunch Scottish Presbyterian, it was “her time” and she met it with grace and peace. She was surrounded by the love and care of her extended family at Brookdale Danville Piedmont who loved her through the final 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days of her blessed life. Our gratitude for God’s gift to us in Flo and to Brookdale Danville Piedmont for their care and love. She was preceded in death by her parents, Willie and Marie Hardie; her husband, Ervis Harvard Hall, Jr.; her brother, John William Hardie (Merlene) and her sister, Ella Frances Ryan (Johnny). She is survived by her son, Chaplain, Colonel H. Bryant Wilbourne (USAF, Retired) and his wife, Jackie of Greensboro, NC; her daughter, Karen Hall Walker and her husband, Chris of Orlando, FL and her daughter, Barbara Ellen Hall of Los Angeles, CA; seven grandchildren: John Bryant Wilbourne (Tricia), Salley Wilbourne Whitman (Jason), Julianne Marie Bull, Faith Elizabeth Harding and Caleb Joseph Walker; four great grandchildren: Cole Wilbourne, Mark Wilbourne, Dade Whitman, and Lawson Whitman; and nieces, Diane Ryan Shelton (Kent), Kim Ryan Clifton (Robert), Dale Hardie Sparks, the late Denise Hardie Monette (her surviving husband, Dan), and Donna Hardie Henderson (L.W.). She was formerly employed with the Danville Register and Bee and Hargrave Military Academy. She was a member of The Wednesday Club, Morgan-Johnson Chapter #44 Order of the Eastern Star, and a member of First Presbyterian Church. Her son, military chaplain and pastor, Bryant, writes: “Mother (and I always addressed her formally as that) was a hoot. She was solid in her faith, full of love and generosity, and at more times than I would prefer, painfully honest. She passed those honest genes to me and I have to work hard to keep them in check. Thank you, Mother, you did good!” Her daughter, writer and producer, Karen, shares this: “We are a family of storytellers, and she provided us with a goldmine of material. She was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known, though she hid it well. And good luck trying to tell her a lie! I inherited her compulsion to tell the truth to people who don’t want to hear it, which has cost me a job or two. Years ago, she made me promise her that I would stand up at her funeral and say, ‘There goes one fool who had a good time!’ Everyone around her had a good time, too.” Her daughter, writer and producer, Barbara, fondly remembers: “She had a great sense of humor and was a seeker of laughter and good company. A gifted verbal story teller in her own right, she had much to do with me wanting to tell my own. Her vivacious character will be missed and well-remembered.” A private graveside service will be held in Highland Burial Park with the Reverend Dr. H. Bryant Wilbourne, Reverend Steve Willis and Reverend Jeffrey Wright officiating. In the coming months, when safe, we will have a service of remembrance and life celebration.