Obituary

RICHARD G. HALE
(June 17, 1932 - June 28, 2012)

Richard ‘Doc’ Greenwood Hale, 80 years of age, husband of Mary Ann Hale, died June 28, 2012 in Knoxville, TN.  He was born in Ashland, KY, the son of Shirley and Sarah Elizabeth Hale, both deceased.  In addition to his wife Mary Ann, he is survived by one son, Richard J. (his wife Kelly and their three daughters, Alexandra, Victoria, and Catherine) of Lexington, KY, and his daughter, Michele Elaine Hale, of Martinsburg, WV; one brother, Shirley Pennington Hale, of Huntsville, AL, and one sister, Elizabeth Ann King, of Menifee, CA, as well as several nieces and nephews.

He was married to Mary Ann Jeffrey Hale for 56 years.  He had been a member of Barboursville Baptist Church since the mid-1950s, except for the 10 years when they lived away from the Barboursville area.  There he served as a deacon, choir member, finance committee member, and usher. 

He was a 50-year member of Kanawha Lodge 20, AF&AM Masonic Lodge and was a 32^nd-degree Mason, Charleston, WV, International Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay, a member of Huntington Scottish Rites, and a member of Beni Kedem Shrine in Charleston.

‘Doc’ was a graduate of South Charleston High School.  He attended Morris Harvey College until drafted into the U.S. Army.  He was a veteran of the Korean Conflict having served in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1952.  While stationed at Fort Monmouth, NJ, he studied percussion at Julliard School of Music.  In addition to Morris Harvey College, he attended Texas A&M and the University of Maryland.

Highlights of his distinguished work career included work on Minuteman and Titan missile silos during the early 1960s.  From this, he worked on the Gemini-Titan II project at Cape Kennedy, and served as a project manager for Martin-Marietta and Boeing on the Apollo-Saturn project that put men on the moon in 1969-1972.   After returning to Huntington in 1970, he worked for over 23 years with Ashland Oil, Inc. in Management Engineering, and EPA-relations, as well as managing their Tri-State Marketing subsidiary in Ironton, OH.  Since retirement, he had worked at Henson’s Mortuary in Barboursville.

‘Doc’s passion was working with young student-athletes.  He volunteered his time for over 60 years at the junior high/middle school, high school, collegiate, and professional levels.  Highlights included work with the New Orleans Saints at the beginning of their franchise, and working with Jimmie Johnson (later of Miami University and the Dallas Cowboys) when he began as a high-school coach.  Other highlights are listed below:

He was a charter member of Charles Ruter’s “Charlie’s Angels”.  He was a recipient of the National Coaches Association’s  “Distinguished Services Award.”  Co-author of WV Bill requiring Certified Athletic Trainers at all WV High Schools.  Past member of the WV Special Olympics Board of Directors; past member, International Special Olympics Subcommittee on Track & Field Rules; volunteer athletic trainer for 60+ years at Barboursville, Cabell Midland, and other Cabell County High Schools.  Frequent volunteer at Barboursville Middle School, too.  Past president, Barboursville Lions Club.  He was a life member of the Alpha chapter of the WV 4-H All Stars and current president of the Cabell County 4-H All Stars.  He was on the advisory board of the Ashland Technical College and the Cabell County Vocational and Technical advisory board.

‘Doc’s memberships included AAU (1965-1972), TAC (1972-1980), USAT&F (1980-), WVSSAC (1975-), OHSAA (1975-), KHSAA (1995-), KTCCCA (1995-).  Special Olympics work included area games (1988-), WV Summer Games (1988-), and International Games (1991, 1995, and 1999).  He regularly officiated at the Masters National Championships in Charlotte, NC.  He was an official at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.  At the collegiate level, ‘Doc’ worked as on official for these universities or championships:  Southern Conference, Central Collegiate, Mid-Atlantic Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, USA/MOBIL national championship, Southeast Conference, NAIA National championships, NCAA Regional championships, Virginia Tech University, University of Tennessee, and Wake Forest University.

At the high-school and middle-school levels, ‘Doc’ was a starter for the WV and KY championships in Track & Field and Cross Country, the Ohio Regional championships, USAT&F and AAU local, state and national championships in Track & Field and Cross Country, and the Hershey local, state, and national championships, including starting their first national championship and each of the 32 years since.  ‘Doc’ started about 50 Track & Field and Cross Country meets each year.

Visitation for ‘Doc’ will be at Henson’s Mortuary on Monday, July 2^nd, from 6 pm until 9 pm.  Services will be held at Henson’s on Tuesday, July 3^rd, at 10 am.  Reverend Ron Burnsworth will be conducting the service.

Pallbearers for the funeral will be Jack DeFazio, Orman Hall, Phillip J. “Pete” Jeffrey, John May, John “Chip” McMillan, Richard Messenger, Ross Patton, M.D., Homer Ransdell, and Mitch Shaver, M.D.  Honorary pallbearers will be Donald Lee Baylous and Ronald G. Johnson.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to either the Cabell County or West Virginia Special Olympics.