Knowles Hall Obituary

Former Mancos resident Knowles Leonard Hall died of complications of kidney failure Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Greenbrae, Calif. He was 87.

Mr. Hall was born to Ansel Franklin and June Alexander Hall on Jan. 11, 1926, in Berkeley, Calif. His father was a well-known chief naturalist and chief forester for the National Park Service. While Mr. Hall primarily grew up in Berkeley, the Hall family moved to Mancos in the early 1940s, where Ansel Hall was the first concessionaire in Mesa Verde National Park. The Hall children all spent their summers working at the park, and Mr. Hall graduated from Mancos High School.

He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley, then served in the Navy toward the end of the Korean War.

In 1953, he joined Ernest Gann's crew aboard the 83-foot brigantine Albatross on a sailing voyage from San Francisco to the South Pacific. Upon his return, he married Sherry Ann in Carmel Highlands, Calif., in 1957. They moved to Tiburon, Calif., in 1960.

After starting his career as a sales representative and tour leader in Switzerland for Swissair, he found his passion in broadcast radio. Mr. Hall moved from advertising sales into serving as general manager of Bay Area stations KABL in the 1970s and KFOG in the 1980s.

Some of the highlights of his time at KABL included presiding over the cable car bell-ringing contest; recording the station's on-air editorials; and getting to hug actress Debbie Reynolds, who at the time was wearing a full-length sable coat the station was giving away in a promotion.

After retiring from radio, Mr. Hall worked in real estate leasing with Coldwell Banker and ventured into retail sales with a stint at Rand McNally's flagship store in San Francisco, where he was known as "the Map Guy."

He particularly enjoyed aviation, hiking the Sierra and motorcycling, an activity he pursued until he was 80. He took a trip from Yucaipa, Calif., to La Paz, Mexico, before the roads in Baja California were paved.

Mr. Hall was preceded in death by a daughter, Heidi Still, in 2010.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Sherry Ann Hall, of Greenbrae, Calif.; daughter Johanna Hall of Alameda, Calif.; sisters Robin Turner and Laurel Hall, both of Durango, Merrie Winkler of Cortez and Sylvia Jones of Westminster; brother, Roger Hall of San Francisco; and one granddaughter.

A private memorial service will be held.

Memorial donations may be sent to Hospice by the Bay, 17 East Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Larkspur, CA 94939; or the American Kidney Fund, 11921 Rockville Pike, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852.