Magyar Egyház, 2005 (84. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2005-10-01 / 4. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

9. oldal

THE REV. OLLIE BANKÓ (BENKO) HALL

December 7, 1933 - November 26, 2005

The Rev. Ollie Hall was bom in Perth Amboy to Imre and Elizabeth Benko. She came from a large family and had full siblings and half siblings. She spent most of her life in New Jersey. She was a very loving and sensitive person, dedicated to speaking the truth and seeking justice. She loved life and had a great sense of humor.

She attended Perth Amboy High School. She married Lt. Col. Gary Curtiss Hall in 1956 at the West Point Cadet Chapel. She traveled extensively throughout the country as an Army wife and raised their only daughter, Dr. Pamela E. Hall.

Rev. Hall worked as a real estate saleswoman in Middlesex and Union counties for many years. She was always concerned about people who did not have advantages in life and would help people on small budgets still get their own home.

She was a person who valued education and encouraged many people to continue their studies or to return to college. She herself decided to return to college at the age of 51 and completed her undergraduate studies with an Associate's Degree from Middlesex County College and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. She graduated Cum Laude and was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) National Honor Society for Leadership. She fulfilled her life long dream when she received her Master of Divinity Degree in 1992 from Yale Divinity School.

Rev. Hall was ordained into the Christian ministry by the Hungarian Reformed Church in America. She served actively as a supply pastor and officiated at numerous weddings and funerals by individual arrangement. She would always reach

out to people in need and tried to provide practical assistance like inviting them for a meal. Her love was always inclusive of the needs of many people. She spread her love, support, and compassion where ever she went, so she created in essence a church without walls. She loved to sing hymns, which is why we have many hymn selections in the service today. She loved teaching Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and having fun with the children.

Ollie loved her Hungarian background. She was proud of her heritage and taught it to her daughter through Pamela's attendance at the Hungarian Summer Camp in Ligonier, PA for seven years. Recently they were taking Hungarian lessons together at the Church. Ollie loved to dance the Hungarian waltzes and the csárdás. She organized a Hungarian Dance Troupe at the church while youth group advisor.

Rev. Hall was a member of the Perth Amboy Clergy Association and participated in their interfaith activities. She was a social activist and was dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse and participated in various organizations focused on these issues. She was elected the first woman president of the Yale Club of Central New Jersey, where she arranged scholarships and admission assistance for young Yale applicants from the New Jersey area. She worked part time as the office administrator for her daughter.

We will always remember Ollie as trying to help others and sharing her love. The world has lost a noble friend in Ollie and she will be missed.

Rev. Hall is survived by her daughter, Dr. Pamela E. Hall, and her honorary daughter, Dr. Marlene Steinberg, two sisters, Elizabeth A. Benko and Irene Vertes, and a brother, Elmer Bankó.

INTERVIEW

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11).

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. 1 think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they WILL think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Reggeli ima

Uram, Tőled kapom ezt az új napot. Nem tudom, mit rejt, mi vár rám, kivel fogok találkozni és mit vársz tőlem ma. Ezért arra kérlek, hogy minden lépésemben légy velem. Add meg nekem a megfelelő szavakat minden egyes ember számára. Add, hogy minden helyzetben bölcsen reagáljak. Adj türelmet és szeretetet minden találkozáshoz. De főként abban segíts, hogy állandó kapcsolatban maradjak Veled. Ámen.