Donald LeRoy Hall, M.D.

A  memorial service honoring and celebrating Dr. Donald LeRoy Hall, M.D. will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 900 Jordan St, Shreveport, Louisiana on Friday, October 7, 2022, at 11:00 a.m., with a reception following in the Parlor. Officiating will be Reverend Dr. Will Scott.  

Don, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was a man of great intellect and joie de vivre who made the most of every moment.  He passed away suddenly on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, while playing pickleball. He was born April 1, 1940, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. 

In 1958, Don graduated from Murrah High School in Jackson, Mississippi. He graduated with honors in 1962 from Mississippi State University where he was class president and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Who’s Who.  Don completed medical school at the University of Mississippi (UMMC) in 1965, where he was at the top of his class achieving Alpha Omega Alpha and was awarded the national Sheard Sanford Award for original student research in Pathology.  Don was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base as a Captain in the medical corps from 1966-1968. His specialty training was in eye surgery (Ophthalmology) at Tulane University, UMMC, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida, and Pacific Medical Center of San Francisco, California where he achieved a Heed Fellowship grant.  He subsequently taught at the University of Texas Medical Schools in Galveston and Houston. 

Dr. Hall practiced Ophthalmology in Shreveport for 35 years at Willis-Knighton Medical Center where he served as Vice-President of the Board of Trustees and co-founded the Steen-Hall Eye Institute.  He performed the first intraocular lens cataract surgery in Louisiana and introduced phacoemulsification cataract surgery, argon laser surgery and pars plana vitrectomy to the Ark-La-Tex.  He served as Associate Secretary for Continuing Education of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and was an editor of its journal, Ophthalmology. Don chaired the Advisory Committee on Private Practice, and also received the Honor Award.  He published widely and lectured internationally, including the delivery of the Reudemann Lecture to the American Eye Study Club in 2005. 

Dr. Hall served locally as a board member of St. Mark’s Day School, Oakwood Home for Women, Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse for Northwest Louisiana, and Hope for the Homeless.  He was a member of the Committee of 100 and was a founding board member of Providence House and served as the President and co-chaired the Endowment Campaign.  He was the presiding officer of the Diaconate of First Presbyterian Church and served as an Elder.  He received the 2010 AFP Outstanding Volunteer Fund Raiser for Northwest Louisiana. 

Don was a lifelong participant in the affairs of Mississippi State University, where he served as a member of the Alumni Advisory Board to the School of Arts and Sciences and was selected as the Arts and Sciences Alumnus of the year in 2013.  He later endowed the Donald L. Hall Professorship in Biology.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, John Evans Hall and Audrey L. Hall; his sister, Barbara Hall Williams; his namesake nephew, Donald Richard Hall and his daughter, Mary Ashley Hall.  He is survived by his beloved wife, Gwen Carlton Hall; her daughter, Anna Mitchell Byram, and husband Ian of Shreveport; his daughter, Courtney Hall Murphy and husband, Spencer of New Orleans; his son, Donald Clayton Hall and his wife, Stuart of Washington, D.C.; five grandchildren, Jane Murphy, Clayton Murphy, Campbell Hall, Fletcher Hall, and Tatum Hall; his brother,  Richard Evans Hall and his wife, Jennifer of Brandon, MS, and numerous nephews and nieces.

Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Bill Bickham, M.D., Pete Blanchard, M.D., Bill Byrd, M.D., Hugh Dean, Mike Futrell, M.D., Ruby Green, Jerry Harper, Simone Hennessee, Jimmy Keeton, M.D., Lee Morgan, PhD, Robbie Robertson, Roy Ruby, PhD, Mary Anne Selber, Jane Snyder, Lewis Whitfield, and members of the Knock Loudly Group.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials may be made to Providence House, 814 Cotton St., Shreveport, LA  71101 or Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, PO Box 5407, Mississippi State, MS 39762 or honor Don by partaking in one of his favorite pastimes by giving the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle a try, reading a book, or investigating something that piques your curiosity.

He was a blessing to all who knew him and a champion of many who didn’t.