Eva Hall

On the right,  my grandma holding me, and my grandad holding James.

Above, my grandma and grandad holding the grandkids, with my mom added on the far right of the picture.

My grandma is in the back holding me, and grandad is in the far right back corner.  In the front row, my dad is on the far left, and on the right my mom holds James. I don’t know who the people in the middle row are, but the man on the left is having such a good time! Is it Uncle Duncan!?

Update: It wasn’t Uncle Duncan! It was Uncle Stan (Grandad Hall’s uncle), and next to him is Aunt Jean (Grandad Hall’s aunt, who was like a grandmother to my mom), and Evelyn (Aunt Jean’s close friend, who was refered to as Aunt, and who lived with Aunt Jean toward the end of their lives.)

Here Grandma stands with Ivy, Harvey and Mary, as I learned from the back of the photograph.

See how she holds her camera?  As we’ve been looking through the albums, we’ve had to leave out many photos that must have been taken by my grandma.  We have several photos of her just like this one! Someone must have convinced her to go and stand with the others, so we have this photo of her.

When my grandma moved to Canada, her camera seemed to go on the fritz too often.  I knew that she loved taking picures, so I got her a new one.  I think she’s holding it with Daniel on her lap at the top of the webpage!

Update: Mary (in this picture) visited Alberta and Victoria with Eva and cousin Alison a few years ago before Eva came to live in Canada.

This is my mom and dad with their parents. My Grandma Hall is wearing the blue hat. My grandma had a real fondness for these blue hats, and absolutely would not be swayed from her decision to wear them at weddings. I think you’ll agree she made the right choice.

Here’s my grandma (under the blue hat) with some ladies who were also at the wedding. I like this photo because it shows the fashion in England in 1973: note the tweed coat, and the long formal ‘70 dress and bell-bottoms on the younger ladies, and the shoes.  I’m sure other people looking at this photo could add the names of the ladies, and their relationships to grandma. They must have all been important to her.

Update: From left to right, the ladies are: (1) a friend of Hazel’s, (2) their cousin from Worcester Hazel Houghton, (3) Eva herself, (4&5) her aunts on her mother’s side Gina Flatt and Edith Flatt, (6) her sister Lilian Purvis.  Thanks to Mary Purvis (Lilian Purvis’s daughter) for this information.

This is my grandad with his prize leeks. Grandma is taking the picture. Gardening was a very important part of by grandparents’ lives, and although my grandma isn’t in this picture, there’s a very interesting story relating to her involvement with the leeks, which may come out during the service. Grandma continued to grow leeks in these same beds until she came to Canada.

I have no memory of this, which must have been taken in 1980, and have given my parents much hell for having taken naked bath time pictures of me when I was a toddler. That’s my brother in the bath with a bad cold.

For many years, and until his death, Grandma took care of Uncle Stan. Uncle Stan lived with Grandma and Grandad for the last years of his life, and as you can see, they had some good times together. Here, they are visiting a butterfly greenhouse.

This picture shows a very normal scene at my grandparents home in England. Everything looks much the same here as it did decades later when Jason and I visited Eva for our England holiday!

Here, Sindy watches Stan have breakfast. Sindy, the dalmatian, also represents an important part of my Grandma’s life, since dogs were almost always part of my Grandma and Granddad’s lives. My Grandad used to train them.

Look how bright and sunny it was in the back garden behind Stan! My Grandma used to keep the garden maticulously, even after my Grandad had passed. I remember she used to throw all kinds of things onto the grass for the birds.  Not having seen that much in my life (we feed the birds with feeders), I was a bit alarmed to see huge strips of fat and other left-over food - not just bread - tossed onto the grass, but the birds loved it! They used to come regularly to clear the garden.  My Grandma always had a thought for the garden and its inhabitants, and as you can see, she never left a mess.

When my grandma first came to Canada, Jason and I took her to West Edmonton Mall. She wasn’t walking as well as recently, so we rented her a scooter, but none of us had ridden one before, and Eva was quite nervous. It turns out they are a lot of fun! I helped out by holding the handle-bars and steering so Gran had an anchor in case she accidentally hit light speed and lost control.

In this picture, we mastered the down-ramp into Bourbon Street, the dark and glamorous New Orleans of the great Canadian prairies. I think we were headed for Baskin Robbins.

Eva Hall passed away unexpectedly early on March 2, 2009. She had been living an active family and social life in St. Albert, Alberta, in close contact with her daughter, Christine Walton. She shared her home with grandson James Walton and Nik Hill, who were renovating the basement to her new home. Since her recent move to Canada, Eva has had much support from Chris and her husband, Tom, who made sure Eva had a comfortable home with the type of garden she enjoyed, and access to other amenities she would need.

Eva passed of a series of heart attacks after feeling ill during the night. Her grandson, James, was there to call the ambulance, and Chris and Tom were also with her when she left for the hospital. Eva was surrounded by people who loved her.

The service will be held at Eva’s church, St Matthews Anglican Church on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 2:00pm. There will be a viewing the day before, on Monday, March 9 at 5:00pm. Flowers remembering Eva can be sent directly to the church.   Find more details about the service here.

This website will be updated over the next few days with pictures and memories celebrating Eva’s life. Contributions of photos, videos, and stories can be sent to Eva’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Medwid, who maintains and updates this website.

If you knew Eva, please leave a note in the guest book.

To contact the family directly, please contact Elizabeth requesting the information you require.