When it came to serving his young patients, pediatrician John E. Hall Sr. was there with a joke and his black bag whenever they needed him.
Once his office closed, he worked late making hospital rounds and house calls. Occasionally, distraught parents would bring sick or injured children to his house after office hours. Hall never turned them away.
“People never forgot him for doing that,” said his son John E. Hall Jr. of Atlanta. “He worked long and hard. But he wasn’t focused on making money. For him, it was all about patient care.”
Earlier this month, former patients packed a memorial service for Hall at the Murray Brothers Funeral Home in southwest Atlanta. He died March 26 at the age of 94.
Hall was born in Detroit in 1920, and grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., where his father worked as a Pullman porter. He was the youngest of four children and the only son.
In 1941, he entered Fisk University and left two years later to serve in the Coast Guard during World War II. After the war, he finished his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While at Michigan, he met Margaret Spencer, who was on campus to visit a friend. They married in 1948.
The couple moved to Washington, D.C., where Hall graduated with honors from the Howard University School of Medicine in 1951. After completing his residency and internship in St. Louis in 1955, the family moved to Dallas where Hall started a private practice. The family relocated to Atlanta in 1960.
As word quickly spread about one of Atlanta’s first black pediatricians, Hall’s practice began attracting families from around the state. His patients included children of working-class laborers and the city’s black political leaders, business owners and professionals.
“When he started practicing here, the white doctors still had segregated waiting rooms. Sometimes, black patients had to wait in the car,” said his daughter Nancy Hall White of Atlanta. “Parents came from as far away as Columbus because they wanted their children to have an African-American doctor and to have someone treat them with dignity and respect.”
In a note to Hall’s family after his death, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young called Hall, “the perfect pediatrician, that healed kids with a smile; calmed parents with understanding; loved life, his wife Margaret, and family; a friend in every need.”
Parents appreciated his medical expertise. But his dedication, kind spirit and sense of humor gained their loyalty and trust. Once they outgrew his practice, many of his patients kept coming. He had to convince the young adults it was time to move on.
“I’m convinced that if he hadn’t become a physician, he could have had a successful career as a comedian,” said former patient Darryl Tookes. “He could make children laugh, and that was a great skill for a pediatrician. Humor disarms children, and as a result it disarms the parents.”
Tookes, now a general surgeon, was Hall’s patient from a newborn until he was a 20-year-old college student. When he contracted measles at 3, Hall came to his house and stayed up all night with his parents until his fever broke.
Years later, their paths would cross again. This time, Tookes was the doctor and Hall was his patient. “I got a kick out of taking care of my pediatrician,” Tookes said. “This was the man who had a lot to do with me going into medicine because he was my first physician.”
During his medical career, Hall also taught at the Morehouse School of Medicine and worked at the Fulton County health clinic. He was an avid reader, sports fan and award-winning bridge player.
Hall retired from his practice in 1995 after 42 years and enjoyed traveling the world with his wife. She died in 2005.
“It was hard for him to stop his practice. He really enjoyed his work,” his son said. “As a dentist, he’s had an impact on my practice. Some patients have come to me because they figured if we were related that I had to be pretty good.”
In addition to his son and daughter, Hall is survived by one grandchild.
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