Vinetta Augusta Oelrich Hale

Hale—Vinetta Augusta Oelrich Hale, 96, on May 26, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Vinetta was born on April 6, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Vinetta Roughten Mann and Herman August Oelrich (known as Gus). She grew up in Danville, Ky., not far from the Wilderness Road, and received a bachelor’s in biology and English from Centre College. She taught science and was working on her master’s at University of Chicago, with a thesis involving the life cycle of the newt, when she met Edgar Brewer Hale. They married in 1946. She worked as a teacher’s aide in Chicago and then moved to State College, Pa., when Brewer was hired as a professor at Pennsylvania State University. Their children grew up in State College.

Although Vinetta was raised as a Presbyterian and Brewer as a Southern Baptist, they decided to worship at State College Meeting. After about 15 years of being active attenders, they joined the meeting in the late 1960s, and she served on committees and as a First-day school teacher. When Brewer retired from Penn State in 1978, they moved to Tucson for its climate and its proximity to University of Arizona. She transferred her membership to Pima Meeting in Tucson in 1979 and served as clerk of the meeting, being described by one Friend as “an old-time Clerk—by-the-book. . . . She clerked with a scholarly detachment. Nothing flustered her; she stayed on a very even keel. She was able to walk over nonsense lovingly.” In addition, she served as recorder and recording clerk and on meeting committees: Communications/Newsletter, Membership and Marriage, Nominating, and Ministry and Oversight (including as clerk). She was also a representative to Church Women United.

A Friend described her marriage to Brewer as “one of mutual respect and love, a true marriage of equals.” She excelled in art, especially colored pencil drawings. Her drawings were very realistic; many looked like photographs. Her drawing was awarded Best of Show at the Pima County Fair one year, and one of her works was displayed at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. A friend wrote a children’s book and asked her to do the illustrations. She will be easy to remember. Pima Meeting is grateful to have had her spirit among them for so many years.

Vinetta’s husband of 65 years, Brewer Hale, died in 2011. She is survived by four children, Vinetta Jean Hale Suzettis (a member of Fresno [Calif.] Meeting), Betty Gwen Hale Gonzalez, William Brewer Hale, and Edgar Oelrich Hale; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.