Bobbye Hall went to be with the Lord (January 27th,2007) around 5 PM at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Our hearts are heavy and we'll miss her terribly, but we know where she is. This is the way she would have wanted it. She had made arrangements for cremation. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information:

Tim Blackwell

Ballpark Impressions, L.L.C

508 Elaine St.

Keller, TX 76248

(817) 379-5528

(817) 291-8581

e-mail: cowcatcher@verizon.net

                                                                                   January 30, 2007

     Former hobby icon Bobbye Hall of Dallas passed away Saturday January 27, at a Dallas hospital from congestive heart failure. She was 97.   A native of Whitney, TX, Mrs Hall rose to prominence in the hobby industry and National Model Railroad Association during a 55-year career with Hall's Hobby House and Hallmark Models, Inc.  In the late 1960s, she became the first woman to import brass models from Japan with a line of locomotives cars from U.S. Southwestern railroads. Mrs. Hall went on to import models from Korean manufacturers as Hallmark Models became a recognized importer in the industry.

     In 1966, Mrs Hall was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry association's Hall of Fame along with industry moguls Hal Carstens, A.C. Kalmbach, Bruce Walthers, Irvin R. Athearn and William K. Walthers. She also received the NMRA's Pioneers of Model Railroading award the same year.

      She was the first woman elected to the Hobby Industry Association's board of directors in 1953. She served three years on the board before stepping aside, but continued to serve hobby industry associations in numerous capacities until closing her business at age 92 in 2001.

      In May 2006, Mrs. Hall released her autobiography, Tracks from Texas to Tokyo, which chronicles her rise from the early days of Hall's Hobby House in Dallas, where she along with her husband, Buddy, converted a former ice cream parlor into a hobby shop and antique furniture business in 1946.

       Since the book's release and up until her death, Mrs. Hall toured several cities in Texas and Oklahoma making public appearances and signing books. She last signed at a Dallas area train show in mid January.

     Mrs Hall was born on Sept 15, 1909, and was the third child of Franklin and Edna Irene Bennett Autrey. She is survived by her nephew, Wayne Pennington, and his wife, Nancy, Mesquite, TX, along with several great nephews and nieces. A family service is scheduled for Sunday, Feb 4, at Mr. Pennington's residence in Mesquite.

     In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to:

NewHearts/Lungs

3600 Gaston Ave. #404 Barnett

Dallas, TX 75246

      NewHearts/Lungs is a non-profit support group for heart and lung transplants Mrs. Hall was an honorary lifetime member.