- Date Of Birth: January 30, 1916
- Date Of Death: July 20, 2006
- State: Illinois
Dr. Hilda H. Hale, 90 years, of Jacksonville, IL died Thursday morning, July 20, 2006 at the Barton W. Stone Home in Jacksonville.
She was born January 30, 1916 in Somerville, MA. She is survived by a son, Stephen Hale of Jacksonville; a grandson, Casey Hale of New York, NY; and three nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a brother.
Dr. Hale obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in 1937 and Master’s Degree in 1943, both from Pennsylvania State University. She began her teaching career at the University of Missouri in Columbia from 1946-1952. For the next three years, she was a teaching fellow at Indiana University in Bloomington. She began teaching at MacMurray College in the fall of 1955 as an associate professor in the English department and then received her Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Missouri in 1956. She retired in June of 1981 as professor of English at MacMurray.
Following her retirement, Dr. Hale spent several years as chairperson of the local chapter of Amnesty International and retained her membership for many years. She was also a member emerita of the Modern Language Association and a lifetime member of the Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library. A member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Dr. Hale held the distinction of being the church’s first female lector.
She has traveled extensively, spending 11 summers in Italy during her time at MacMurray. She has also lived in London for an eight-month sabbatical during her MacMurray career.
