Sharon Hall, beloved mother, grandmother, longtime Nugget reporter and champion of local non-profits, died Sunday night. She passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 74 in her home in Jacksonville, Fla.
She leaves behind a town full of friends, adopted family members and admirers.
As an intrepid and tireless reporter, Hall had a reputation for using her writing talents to help promote local charitable organizations in need throughout her nearly three-decade-long career. That’s something fellow local philanthropist Thomas Scanlin knows well.
“There’s hardly a single non-profit in town that didn’t benefit from Sharon,” he said, while adding that Hall would often take on the fundraising herself for causes she would report on. “…You could never say no to Sharon. How would you say no to Sharon? She really was a great fundraiser in a lot of ways… If she needed something, you wanted to say yes to her. And that’s a rare trait these days. When she called you, you were glad to take that call.”
Lumpkin County Chairman Chris Dockery was used to getting plenty of calls from Hall. And he described her as a tough but trustworthy reporter when it came to coverage of local government.
“She was fair,” he said. “Whether it was good news or bad news. I always felt like she wrote the story to inform the public, which is exactly what she was supposed to do.”
Dockery pointed out that not every story was completely complimentary, but he couldn’t complain.
“Sometimes it would sting,” he said with a chuckle. “But she was always fair.”
NEWS BREAKER
Hall made the leap to college relatively later in life, in her early 40s, earning a degree from the University of Florida where she worked on the student newspaper.
She soon moved to Dahlonega and took those skills directly to The Nugget as she was hired by then-publisher Terrie Ellerbee.
A glance back at past Nuggets shows what we believe to be her first byline in the November 26, 1997 edition. It was a lone front-page story about the then-controversial introduction of zoning regulations for Lumpkin County, as local officials were planning for much anticipated growth on the Highway 400 corridor. Full of lively quotes, it captured a heated discussion that is definitely continuing to this day.
“With plans to further extend 400 into White County, more can be expected to look in this direction for a break from Atlanta’s traffic and congestion,” Hall wrote.
Hall’s impact on The Nugget’s style of coverage was just beginning.
A few weeks later, she was writing nearly every story on the front-page, with multiple bylines on the inside as well. From features to columns to countless government meetings, if news was breaking in Dahlonega, Hall was there with notepad and camera in hand.
That voracious reporting continued until her initial retirement from her full-time position in 2015. Casual Nugget readers probably wouldn’t have noticed this retirement though, as Hall continued to churn out numerous stories on part-time hours for the next five years.
In 2020, she began her second retirement before moving to Jacksonville to be with her family. This one was just as effective as the first as Hall continued to cover Dahlonega and Lumpkin County under the title of The Nugget’s first “remote reporter” until just a few months ago.
In a community-wide Zoom call honoring her second retirement, Ellerbee deemed her hiring of Hall the best decision she made at The Nugget. She also suggested that Hall was worthy of being nominated for sainthood.
“You give journalism a good name,” she said. “And we need more folks like you.”
On Monday, Father John Hamilton echoed that sentiment while detailing Hall’s contributions to St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church.
“What she did with The Nugget, I consider a huge Christian act,” he said. “Her journalism was a vocation. It wasn’t a job. … She created community. She made connections. She loved people and treated them fairly.”
Hamilton noted that Hall also quietly helped others in ways that were never recorded in a Nugget story. Always on the look out for people in need, she kept a stash of emergency supplies in her car in case she came across a stranded stranger.
“She kept in her car, all the time, those space blankets and food and stuff,” said Hamilton. “She would stop and give them to people who were homeless.”
He then called for a Sharon Hall sainthood as well.
“I’m making her sound like a saint aren’t I?” he said. “Yes she was. She was a saint. She showed Christ to the world. She showed the glory of God to the world.”
A LIFE CELEBRATED
Hamilton noted that Hall help found the local PFLAG group (also known as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) which had its roots at the local Episcopal Church.
In fact, it was at a PFLAG meeting in 2019 that Hall met then UNG student Jennifer Ramsey.
It was an encounter, said Ramsey, that changed the course of her life.
“Shortly after, I switched to a journalism track in school,” she said. ‘She encouraged me to go to The Nugget and ask for an internship, a decision that changed and enriched my life immeasurably.”
Ramsey went on to graduate from UNG and became a staff writer for The Nugget before moving on to a position with Endeavor Business Media where she now writes about electric vehicles and clean energy.
“I will always remember, admire and respect her not only as a great journalist, but as a prime example of the life and values we should all strive for,” Ramsey said.
That’s a feeling seemingly shared by many.
“She was an amazing individual,” said Scanlin. “And I’m really thankful for the time I had with her.”
It was well known that Sharon’s love of her life was her husband Ross “Sonny” Hall, a fellow writer who passed away in 2012 after a tough bought with cancer.
“Please pray for our family at this time and know that she is dancing in the clouds with her true love Sonny Hall,” stated a Facebook post from her daughter-in-law Danielle Hall.
Cheri Hall described her mother-in-law as someone who was always eager to pull people into her family circle.
“She was just such a good woman,” she said. “She was a good woman all around. She loved her kids. She loved her grandkids. She loved kids that weren’t even hers.”
Cheri added that during the last days of Sharon’s life in Florida, her son and daughter-in-law Billy and Monica Phebus were there to keep her comfortable and provide much day-to-day love and support.
The date of Sharon’s funeral service has not yet been determined, but it will be held in Dahlonega at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church.
Hamilton expects a sizable crowd.
“That’s where she wanted it to be,” he said. “I kept telling her ‘I think Saint Elizabeth’s will be too small.’ But she said, ‘Ah no it won’t.’”
Hamilton added that it’s very appropriate that Hall will return to Dahlonega for the celebration of her life.
“Her roots were as deep as the mountains,” he said. “She loved the mountains. She loved the beauty of this place.”
Scanlin saw that love as well.
“She really loved Dahlonega,” he said. “She really did.”
And from talking to those who knew her, it’s safe to say, Dahlonega loved Sharon Hall back.
(We know there are probably plenty more friends and admirers of Sharon Hall who would like to share stories of her. If you have something to add feel free to send a special Letter to the Editor to Publisher John Bynum at jbynum@thedahloneganugget.com. Check back in with The Nugget for updates on the time and date of her funeral service. All will be invited.)