Dennis N. Hall, 72, formerly of Grinnell, Iowa, died on August 1st, 2024, in western Nebraska.

A visitation celebrating Dennis's life will be at the Smith Funeral Home, Grinnell, IA on August 16 from 4:30-7:30pm and a service will be held at the Madison Church of Christ, rural Brooklyn, IA the following day on August 17 at 10:30am. A luncheon will be held at the church following the service. Dennis will be interred at the Brooklyn Memorial Cemetery. Should friends desire, flowers and/or memorials may be sent. Memorials may be designated to Ozark Christian College and mailed in care of Smith Funeral Home, PO Box 368, Grinnell, IA.

Memories and condolences may be shared with his family online at www.smithfh.com.

Dennis N. Hall was born the son of Norman R. Hall and Frances E. (Fuller) Hall on August 12, 1951, in Grinnell, Iowa. He was raised on the family farm east of Grinnell and graduated from Grinnell High School in 1969. Dennis was involved with the youth group of Madison Church of Christ near Brooklyn. He was also active in 4H, FFA, as well as baseball and basketball in Grinnell and was a varsity member of the cross-country team.

In 1969, Dennis enrolled at Ozark Bible (Christian) College in Joplin, Missouri. He was active in sports at Ozark where he was presented with the Outstanding Senior Athlete Award and was a Captain on the varsity basketball team. He considered himself a "high flyer" with his 35-inch vertical leap for eleven years. He served as a missionary intern to the Philippines for one year before returning to Ozark to finish school and graduate.

A missionary in the Philippines had challenged Dennis to return to the Philippines as a Campus Minister to university students. Dennis had that goal in mind as he furthered his education. He returned to the Philippines five times over the next few decades. However, he was asked to be a Campus Minister supported by Christian churches in Missouri and Iowa. He was the initiating minister of the Campus Christian Fellowship in Kirksville, MO, which is now the largest student organization on campus. He also served with the ISU Christian Fellowship in Ames, IA and Active Christians Today at the University of Iowa- a total of 20 years of teaching and communicating God's word to university students in the United States.

While at the University of Iowa, Dennis took classes at UI, received his M.A. Degree from Lincoln Christian Seminary in Lincoln, Illinois, and was selected to Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges.

For 20 years (from 2000-2020), Dennis taught full-time or substitute taught K-12. In the Peoria, Illinois area, he was in 50 schools and had over 12,000 students from 2000-2007. One organization he was especially involved with was SEPCO (Special Education of Peoria County).

From 2007-2020, Dennis was based in San Francisco, California at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) as a Flight Attendant with United Airlines. The picture included with this tribute was taken in 2008, right after he had worked a trip to London and back. Dennis had been honored by being selected as "The Flight Attendant of the Season." Prior to 9/11 of 2001, there were flight attendants honored each month, but that stopped after 9/11. Dennis was the first Flight Attendant to be given this type of honor in seven years. This picture hung on the domicile wall of United Airlines for one year from 2008-2009 at SFO. People would ask him, "Aren't you on the wall?!"

Dennis also substitute taught from 2007-2020 at a private school in San Mateo, CA called Stanbridge Academy. All of the 100 students had "mild to moderate learning differences" and Dennis generally had every student from K-12 during the course of each year. He often said that he thoroughly enjoyed every day that he was at Stanbridge! He had many stories about "the lightbulb coming on" in students' minds when he explained things so that they had NEW understanding. "I love teaching kids," Dennis would say. But, the several offers he received to teach full-time were all turned down. He could fly anywhere in the world for free, plus he ultimately reached the highest level of seniority and had a schedule with 20 to 20+ days off each month with the airline.

Dennis coached boys and girls in baseball and softball. He coached mainly 10-12 year old players in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Once again, he loved to transform "Bad News Bears" into winners!

Dennis strongly believed that God hears our prayers and answers our prayers. He has encouraged people to pray as specifically as possible; that way, when the answer is very specific, you have to SERIOUSLY consider whether that could just be a coincidence or, as is often the case, did God answer specifically? When you know that God is working in your life, you aren't afraid because he's walking with you all the time.

Over a period of many years, Dennis has led mission trips to Juarez, Mexico, Tijuana, Mexico, Mexico City, the Philippines, and the Amazon. Dennis has been a leader for children's worship. He has been a small groups director with over 600 people in small groups. He has preached and taught over 1,000 sermons and lessons. He has performed weddings and funerals. He has videotaped weddings and been a wedding photographer.

More recently, Dennis split his time between his homes in Clovis, California and East Peoria, Illinois, as well as at his farm east of Grinnell, Iowa. He highly enjoyed working at the farm his dad left him, with his brother-in-law Dave Bouchard. Dennis would say, "Some of the most fulfilling days I have are when we're at the farm and I'm using the 2640 John Deere Diesel tractor to clear and move things. There is satisfaction in turning chaos into order. Farm land is so important. God only made a limited amount of it. I am so privileged to be a steward of Iowa farm land."

Dennis loved traveling to visit family, friends, national parks, and scenic views. These last few years, he had at least one new destination planned each month and often rode his Moto Guzzi 1200 or Honda Pacific Coast motorcycle to fully enjoy "God's handiwork." He would say, "There's always someplace I'm wanting to go see or someone I want to see." Some of his recent destinations included National Parks and Conservation Areas like: Sequoia, Lassen Volcanic, Yosemite, Big Bend, Red Rock Canyon, Crater Lake and Capitol Reef, as well as sites like Sonora, Mount Shasta and Alabama Hills. And, as always, he had fun meeting people along the way and coming home with a multitude of good stories to share about his adventures.

Dennis is survived by daughter Heather (John) Gill of Indianapolis, IN, daughter Brittany (Jonathan) Pisors of Kennedale, TX, son James (Ayumi) of Schaumburg, IL, five grandchildren: Kara Pisors, Logan Pisors, and Ava Pisors, plus Shelby Hall and Calvin Hall, his sister Sue (Dave) Bouchard, and nephew Jonathan Bouchard of Altoona, Iowa. He was preceded in death by his parents.

"Blessed be the name of the Lord. He gives and takes away, as Job said. God has given me all I have and all I am. Blessed be the name of the Lord." -Dennis