Sarah P (Pruitt) Hall

Sarah Pool (née Pruitt) Hall of Oakdale, Illinois re-united with her husband Emory in death on Monday evening, March 30th, surrounded by loved ones at Memorial Hospital in Shiloh, Illinois. A chaplain who visited earlier that day said she had never seen that many people at someone’s deathbed before, which sums up exactly who Sarah was and how many people loved her.

 Sarah met the love of her life, Emory Hall, on the SIUC campus while she was earning her bachelor’s degree in education. He threw a snowball at her to get her attention, and it worked. They were married in 1963 and moved several times throughout Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri while raising their two sons. Sarah happily threw herself into supporting Emory’s diverse endeavors: she helped lead the church as a pastor’s wife, was a willing second eye with his art and carpentry, let him use the freezer to hold the source of the hides he tanned, and much more. Sarah and Emory were members of Les Couriers DuBois de Fort de Chartres, where Sarah enjoyed many years of Rendezvous, spending time around the camp with friends and teaching the public about history. Sarah and Emory were also animal lovers and shared their lives with many well-loved cats and dogs, as well as chickens, goats, sheep, and a fish. Emory’s death in 2019 was devastating for her, and Sarah had to learn to live without him for the first time in 56 years. 

 Throughout her life, Sarah was an avid gardener, her many flower beds boasting the best of care and variety up until she moved into assisted living. Many people have shared in Sarah’s plant journey and are still enjoying the starts that Sarah generously shared. The outdoors were her third great love after her husband and her sons. Even one year ago at age 83, she was headed into the woods with a chainsaw to battle invasive honeysuckle. 

 Her fourth great love was teaching.  She educated multiple generations of children, teaching for over four decades, nearly 30 years as an elementary teacher at the Oakdale Community Grade School alone.  After retirement, she continued to teach, helping several people to achieve citizenship or GEDs. Throughout Southern Illinois and even in St. Louis, it’s common to meet people whom she taught. Members of her family are often asked, “Are you related to Sarah Hall? She was my first grade teacher!!”

Along with nature and teaching, Sarah loved to bake. Her Brown Sugar Hermit recipe was known and loved by many, and she held weekly tea parties for her grandchildren who lived next door. Although she spent a lot of time cooking for holidays and celebrations, it was not the cooking itself she loved but the way food brings people together. She was always happiest when surrounded by family and friends. Sarah gladly joined her daughter-in-law’s mother, Lavon, in babysitting and cooking for the whole crew while the family’s two log cabins were built. She enjoyed a glass of wine (or a gin martini with two olives), baked goods, ham and beans, other people cooking for her, and birthday bonfires.

 With Emory, her cousin Lana, or others in her family, she travelled as often as she could. Sarah visited Ireland, Northern Ireland, Italy, and many of the other fifty states, including Alaska, Florida, Colorado, and more on road trips out west. She took several beach vacations to North Carolina with her children and visited her granddaughter and grandson-in-law in Charleston, SC and San Diego, CA. 

 Sarah also enjoyed music, games, puzzles, and reading.  She and Emory could polka away the evening and spent every Saturday morning listening to bluegrass music.  Sarah played the fiddle and the piano and helped instill a love of music in both of her sons.  She was an avid reader, and it was rare to find her without a crime thriller or historical fiction novel in progress, in addition to the children’s books she read to countless little ones. Later in life as her vision failed, she continued her passion for reading through audio books.

Sarah’s memory will be cherished by her two sons Richard (Marsha) Hall and Matthew (Emily) Hall; grandchildren Megan Emmett Hall, Abigail (Marcus) Bean, Madeline Johnson, Thomas Johnson (Briley), Daniel Johnson, and Troy Miller (Connie); nieces and nephews Melissa (Tom) Johnson, Sarah (Trent) Koplinski and their children Sydney (Alec) and Jonah, Andrew & Oilibhéar Pruitt, and Ashley Pruitt (Will); brother Sam Pruitt; cousins Lana (Robert) Weiss and Jonathan (Lynne) Carrick; Kai Amaranth, Dylan & Keefe Conekin, Kyle Conekin (Alexis), Sam Corso, Kevin Lewis, Joe & Oliver Shubert, and Theron Smith, all of whom she loved and embraced as family; her caregiver of several years, Kim Cheek; and many other cherished family members, friends, and neighbors.

Sarah was born in Centralia, Illinois to Wilma (née Carrick) and Elbert “Red” Pruitt, who preceded her in death along with her husband Emory, her Uncle Bob and Aunt Wanda Carrick, parents-in-law Harral A. and Josephine Hall, brothers-in-law Harral E. Hall and Richard E. Hall, and her friend and son’s mother-in-law Lavon Benedict.

 A memorial gathering of family and friends will be held Saturday April 4, 2026 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Styninger Funeral Home in Nashville, IL. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund or the Oakdale Community Education Association and will be taken at the funeral home. Styninger Funeral Home in Nashville is in charge of arrangements.

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