Obituary of Dorothy Hall McFarland

Heaven welcomed a beautifully precious angel when Dorothy Hall McFarland quietly left this world in her sleep on June 17, 2017. Dorothy was born on April 11, 1908 in St. Paul. The oldest daughter of Harriet Isabelle (Grissom) Hall and Stephen Edward Hall, Dorothy will be remembered as a compassionate negotiator and in later life, as an animated storyteller; skills learned from her father who was a key player in the Minnesota Civil Rights movement. She was an ardent student of her mother, who was the organist at Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul and had taught music at the University of Minnesota. Dorothy was a gifted singer with perfect pitch and an accomplished pianist. Dorothy attended high school at St. Paul Central High School and after graduation, lived briefly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, New Haven, Connecticut, and Mansfield, Ohio before returning to St. Paul. She studied under the tutelage of Miss Stella Louise Wood at the prestigious, Miss Wood’s Kindergarten School. Graduating in 1931, Dorothy began a 25-year career as a pre-school teacher at Wilder Nursery School. Soon after finding her passion, preparing young children for their future educational training, she met and fell in love with “a really good man”. In 1952 she married her prince, Albert McFarland in a quiet ceremony in Chicago. She sadly lost the man of her dreams in 1975. During her retirement, Dorothy could be found donating her time and talents to many community service organizations; Martin Luther King Center, St. Paul Urban League, Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, and the St. Paul Chapter NAACP. She also spent much of her time traveling to visit friends and family around the country. Dorothy was a long time member of Unity Unitarian Church in St. Paul. Although Albert and Dorothy never had children together of their own, she was a doting, loving and compelling mother figure to the children born into her family. Her husband, parents, sister Ermine Hall Allen and niece Myrrhene Dorothy Crawford, preceded Dorothy in death. Her niece, Marcheta Mines (Robert) of Alameda, California, 5 great nephews and nieces, 10 great-great nephews and nieces, 3 great X3 nephews and nieces, plus a great X4 niece survive her. A Memorial Service to celebrate Dorothy’s extraordinary life will be held 1:00PM, Saturday, July 29 at Unity Unitarian Church, corner of Holly Ave and So. Grotto St., St. Paul. Memorials preferred to donors choice. Cremation Society of Minnesota, 651-789-0404.