Making higher education a reality.

In Memory of Sonbolati

September 3, 1940 - October 25, 2016

Her Life

Jolene Scott Hall, born in Forreston, Texas, was the first of four children born to Joe Lee and Gladys Scott. The family moved to San Angelo, Texas, where her three siblings, Patsy, Giles, and Nancy, were born. Love filled their home, and family and faith were the foundations of their upbringing. Jolene attended San Angelo Public Schools and worked hard to achieve her education. When the time came to enter first grade, she missed the cutoff for entering school by just two days. She could already read at the age of five and showed her talent to her would be teachers. Though she missed the school age cutoff, she persevered and was placed in the second grade to begin her path down formal education.

Jolene married Willie E Hall, Sr, and together they had a son, Willie E Hall, Jr, on December 31, 1958. Willie married the love of his life, Demona Ingram, on Jolene’s birthday, September 3, 1993. Later the couple were blessed with a son, Armon Hall. After a courageous battle with cancer, Willie passed away on July 18, 2013. Of him, she said, “You, my beloved son, filled my quiver. Being your mother was my reward.”

In May 1995, Jolene began battling breast cancer and beat it. She went on to be a member and advocate for Sisters Network, a national African-American breast cancer survivorship organization. In November 2014, she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in both lungs. She wrote on her Caring Bridge site, “Despite this set of hard times, I am going to continue to have faith in God who hears my cries and is concerned about me.” Jolene lost her battle on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, three and a half years after her beloved son, Willie.

Her Education

Jolene’s desire to do everything perfectly grew from an early age. She would be the first to admit that her obsession with perfection vs. excellence caused her a few problems along the way, but she never lost her zeal for giving every task her best. She entered high school in 1955, the first year San Angelo Public Schools was integrated. She graduated in the top 7% (21 out of 300) of her high school and enrolled in Junior College, where her achievement earned her membership in Phi Delta Kappa. She would go on to attend and graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and pursuing post-graduate studies.

Her Passions

Upon graduation from UT, in January 1963, Jolene began working as a teacher at Kealing Junior High School in East Austin in the Austin Public School District. She taught in the Austin Independent School District for 33 years. Jolene taught in junior and senior high schools as well as an 18-month internship as Instructional Coordinator in Language Arts. During her public school career, Jolene’s colleagues selected her as Teacher of the Year three times - 1977-1978, 1990-1991, and 1994-1995.

Jolene’s faith was a driver in all she did. She wanted to be found “Chasing God and Serving People.” After she retired from teaching, she began working as Church Secretary and later Executive Assistant to Rev. Joseph C Parker, Jr at David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. During this time, she also focused on combining her gifts of motivational speaking, teaching and training to reach, teach and witness to people of all ages.