Wesley James (Jim) Hall, Jr.

Jim passed away on July 21, 2023, at Kennybrook Village in Grimes, Iowa. Born in Polk County, Iowa, he attended and graduated from Johnston High School. He met his future wife, Fay King, while they were attending Capital City Commercial College in Des Moines and they shared a happy marriage for 69 years until her passing in 2019. They had three sons: Lynn (Shirley), Merle (Marsha) and David (Paulette). There are seven grandchildren: Aaron (Claire), Anna, Austin (Katie), Evan (Marina), Faith (Nathan), Sam, Valarie (Andy); eleven great grandchildren: Anne (Marshall), Alyssa (Isabelle), Clara, Harry, Isaiah, Josh, Kahlan, Melody, Naomi, Nina, Rose; and one great great grandchild on the way.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Jim worked for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, becoming well-respected as the man who could fix just about anything. Over the course of his thirty-four years there, he oversaw Building Maintenance, Building Security and the Cabinet Shop, as well as maintaining other important responsibilities. Jim was a respected member of the Johnston Evangelical Free Church (JEFC) in which he had grown up and where he had served in various capacities over the years. He served on the Board of Directors of the Free Church Home in Boone, Iowa, and for several years did the books for the EFCA Central District on his Commodore 64. He was a long time member of the Iowa chapter of the National Association of Power Engineers, where he taught classes and served in every officer role. In his younger days, he served both as member and as chief on the Johnston Volunteer Fire Department and was known as the guy who made the large wall map of Johnston that enabled incoming volunteers to know where the fire was when they arrived at the station for a call. He also served in the Army Reserves.

When he was sixty-eight, he began taking flying lessons, ultimately earning his private pilot license just before he turned seventy. He eventually purchased his own plane and often took family and friends up for rides, sometimes just flying to a small central-Iowa town for lunch. A ride in the plane with Mr. Hall was a special treat for children and their parents at JEFC. He flew for 15 years before retiring and selling the plane when he and Fay moved into Kennybrook Village.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Wesley James, Sr. & Juanita (Woody) Hall, sister Jane Ann Wissink and great grandchild Rose Annalee Hall.

Services will be held at 12 p.m. Friday July 28, 2023 at Hamilton’s near Highland Memory Gardens, 121 NW 60th Avenue, Des Moines with interment to follow at Highland Memory Gardens. Family will greet friends from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.

The family requests that any donations be made in Jim’s honor to either International Messengers (MDJ), PO Box 618, Clear Lake, IA 50428 or CRU (0031818), PO Box 628222, Orlando, FL 32862, which are missions that Jim and his wife, Fay, supported throughout the years. In addition, donations may also be made to the AOPA Foundation You Can Fly program in his honor.

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