The Mississippi Department of Transportation issued the following statement.
Former Mississippi Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall has died at age 84 on November 2, 2022.
“Mississippi lost one of its longest tenured public servants and I lost a great friend and mentor,” said MDOT Executive Director and former Hall staffer Brad White. “Commissioner Hall led by example and my life is much better because of the major role he played in it.”
Hall was appointed Central District Transportation Commissioner by Governor Kirk Fordice on April 12, 1999, to fill an unexpired term. He served as Central Transportation Commissioner until his retirement in December of 2019.
Prior to being elected Commissioner, Hall served 24 years in the Mississippi Legislature, three terms as a Representative and three terms as a Senator. Hall served as Chairman of the Environmental Committees in both the House and Senate. While in the Senate, he also served as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He was the first recipient of the Hugh L. White Free Enterprise Award.
“I am saddened by the passing of my friend and colleague Dick Hall. I had the honor of serving with him on the transportation commission and developed a deep respect for him and his dedication to our great state,” said Commissioner Tom King, Chair of the Mississippi Transportation Commission. “He has left a legacy of service and hard work not only at MDOT, but for the entire state of Mississippi.”
Hall was the longest serving member of the Mississippi Transportation Commission with 20 years and nine months. He also served as Chairman for 11 years during that time.
He is survived by his wife of 22 years Jennifer, his children: Bob Hall (Dianne), Chris Hall (Kathy), Allison Hanson, Nathan Hanson (Lorie) and his grandchildren: Christian Hall (Lacy), Shelby Hall, Carter Hanson and Elizabeth Hanson. He and Jennifer resided at the Reservoir in Rankin County. Hall was an active member of Lakeside Presbyterian church and was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army.
22 comments:
I am so very sorry to read this. Mr. Hall was a kind person. I am so sorry for your loss, Jennifer. My thoughts and prayers are with you and the family.
I have always respected Commissioner Hall's opinions and loyalty to his district. IMO, he seemed more straightforward and less political than those he served with.
As a non-engineer MDOT retiree, I remember he would come visit our office and always give a speech telling us he was working on getting us raises. Well he did always get those raises for the engineers. But nothing for anyone else.
Commissioner Hall did a great job. I am very appreciative of his service. He did his job. I cannot say how sad I am to see the Interstate that he took such good care of being trashed. I wish he was still our commissioner.
11:30, why didn't you go get an Engineering degree, then?
There is a reason the highest starting salaries are for engineers-not everyone can cut it.
But civil engineer salaries are some of the lowest in the sector due to "public works" budgeting, "taxpayer watchdog" nutjobs letting our infrastructure implode, especially roads, and more competitive private sector positions.
He recruited and retained talent in a challenging budget environment. That was his job. He did it well.
Well, I guess Bailey gets his interchange now.
Dick was truly great. He will be fixing the Highway to Heaven
A fine fellow period
@11:30 - Hard to feel any sympathy for you, when you come in and slag a man who just passed, who had little to do with whether you got a raise or not. Any raise you got came out of the capital, and they aren't keen on giving any state employee a raise. Commissioner Hall could talk to his colleagues in the Capitol about your plight, and I can guarantee he fought for all MDOT employees. But, the legislature, and the legislature alone, decided if your paycheck was going to change.
Engineers got the raises they did because of the huge, and growing, discrepancy in the public and private sector salaries, and the increasing inability to recruit any new talent to replace those who were retiring. As important as the Technicians and Maintenance folks are, you cannot approve construction plans, without an engineer stamp.
But, you know, congrats on your bitterness. It suits you well. And, enjoy being retired in your 50s and getting that 13th Check.
@11:30 a.m. maybe if you weren't posting online when you should have been doing your job you might have gotten one of those raises. I wouldn't be expecting one this year either if I were you.
You should be thankful Mr. Hall allowed you to keep your job.
11:30 just wasn’t raised right.
12:37 pm: "...truly great. He will be fixing the Highway to Heaven"
Great line, there: Dick Hall is deserving of it.
I'm sorry to hear of his passing.
I always enjoyed his interviews.
He went to his point ... and as I recall, Commissioner Hall never babbled the usual political double speak when in front of a camera.
Comfort to his family and friends.
Commissioner Hall was a good man and did a great job at MDOT.
I had many dealings with him and he was a class act.
He will be missed.
@11:30, the master troll of JJ strikes again. Absolutely NOBODY cares that much about how much MDOT engineers are paid except MDOT engineers! And a few of those worthless incompetents outed themselves as JJ commenters!
@1:38 - might wanna go take a remedial reading and comprehension course.
I knew him for 40 years. Dick was a good man. In the end, that's all you can ask for.
He was a good guy
Commissioner Hall and Brad White worked hard to help all employees and taxpayers. When I was an Administrative Assr. In Bridge we could not even get Engineers to interview because the starting salaries were $19 thousand plus below every other employer. Most graduating engineers had student loans to pay off after graduating. I had the same opportunities they did if I chose to apply & met qualifications! The deserve every penny they make & more! Dick Hall was always a man of great morals and integrity! RIP Commissioner! I had the pleasure of seeing him not long ago and he still sang the praises of working with such wonderful people!
Cue the marshall ramsey pearly gates cartoon
Always wondered why the 'slot machine inebriated' head of the department would not even let Dick have a cubicle at the new building. That never made sense and why somebody didn't intervene is a mystery.
Knew him for many years and was grateful for his contributions.
Enjoyed the Hall Pass pun in the title as well.
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