Former VCU rector Phoebe Hall standing in a crowded room
Phoebe Hall was the co-founder, CEO and senior partner of Hall & Hall PLC, and also an active supporter of a host of charitable causes, including the Alzheimer’s Association and the VCU Massey Cancer Center. (Photo by Allen Jones, University Marketing)

Phoebe Hall, former rector of the VCU Board of Visitors, dies

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Editor's note: This story has been updated to include service details.

Phoebe Hall, who served parts of two terms on the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors, died Friday.

Hall was the co-founder, CEO and senior partner of Hall & Hall PLC, a law firm she started with her husband, Franklin “Frank” P. Hall. Phoebe Hall practiced family law, elder law and estate planning from the firm’s founding in 1969 until this year. She first joined VCU’s Board of Visitors in 2015 when then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe appointed her to serve the unexpired term of her late husband. She was re-appointed to a second four-year term on the board in June 2018. Hall was elected to serve two terms as rector of the board in 2017-18 and 2018-19. 

“Without pomp and circumstance, Phoebe modeled what we want everyone connected with Virginia Commonwealth University to be,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “She was kind, gracious and utterly unpretentious. She was brilliant, driven and enormously talented. She treated everyone with respect and compassion. She was a wise and strategic leader who inspired all of us to be better, do better, and make life better for those we serve.

“Phoebe was, in every way, a remarkable human being who dedicated her life to helping people discover the very best in themselves and each other. And in doing so, she made everyone who knew her better, and she made VCU better. We will miss her terribly, and we will dedicate ourselves to continuing her servant’s work. We are forever a stronger university because of Phoebe Hall.”


Phoebe Hall memorial service


A memorial service for former VCU rector Phoebe Hall will be held Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Altria Theater (6 N. Laurel St.) at 10 a.m. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. Guests may enter through the Laurel Street entrance. Free public parking is available in VCU's West Main Street Deck (801 W. Main Street).

Hall was the recipient of numerous honors and awards for her professional and volunteer contributions to the community, including the Leaders in the Law and Influential Women of Virginia awards from Virginia Lawyers Weekly and the Woman of Achievement award from the Metro Richmond Women’s Bar Association. She was named a Super Lawyer from 2011 to 2019 and was elected a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation. Hall was an active supporter of a host of charitable causes, including the Alzheimer’s Association, the VCU Massey Cancer Center and Wills for Seniors, which provides free legal estate planning services to eligible seniors.

Hall received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.