(ENLARGE)

Madeleine Hall

A gracious and dignified lady, Mary Madeleine Segal Hall, wife of the late congressman and federal judge Sam B. Hall Jr., died at 8:35 a.m. Oct. 6, 2009 surrounded by her three daughters.

Her daughters, Becky Palmer and Amanda Wynn of Marshall and Sandra Bodenhamer of Glen Rose, spoke all together Tuesday afternoon from a speaker phone at their mother's home. Their voices sounded much the same and as their sentiments echoed one to each the other, asked that their comments be from "all three of us — her girls."

"She was a very loving, wonderful mother and grandmother, and great-grandmother," they said. "She was someone you wanted to emulate."

Ms. Hall had a very warm spirit, a sweet spirit and a gentle spirit. Her sense of humor was warm and her words very timed, they said.

"She was dignified, just a classy lady," said Ms. Bodenhamer.

Ms. Hall was a devoted friend and "a very fine Christian lady who loved her Lord." She was a member of Eastern Hills Church of Christ in Marshall.

"She was extremely gracious, the ultimate lady," said Ms. Palmer.

Ms. Hall accompanied her husband to Washington, D.C. when he was in Congress from 1976 to 1985 where "she was a wonderful wife to her husband and supportive of everything he ever did."

She loved her life in Washington where she gave many tours of the White House.

"Wherever he was, she loved being there. Wherever she was, she loved to meet the people and all the things she got to see," said Ms. Bodenhamer, who accompanied her parents to Washington while her older sisters stayed in Texas.

Ms. Hall was active in the congressional Wives Club, Texas Breakfast Club and Texas State Society. And back home, she and Hall were also the first recipients of East Texas Baptist University's J. Wesley Smith Award given for outstanding achievements.

"She enjoyed all of those things and became close to a lot of wives of the men daddy served with, and she continued those relationships for many years," Ms. Bodenhamer said.

In 1985, her husband was appointed by Ronald Reagan to serve as a judge at the federal courthouse in Marshall. He served there until his death in 1994. The courthouse is now named for him.

"She loved coming home because two of us lived here then and she had grandchildren," they said. "She became involved here in many things. She was very philanthropic."

Locally, she was a charter member of the Marshall Symphony League and served on board of the Marshall Symphony Society and the Starr Home. He was also active in Belle Maison, Club 25 and was on the Historical Commission Advisory Council board.

Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 at Eastern Hills Church of Christ.