Sunset and evening star,

And one clear call for me.

And may there be no moaning at the bar

When I put out to sea.

In the words of her favorite Tennyson poem, Ethel Rooney Hall "crossed the bar," having touched the hearts and minds of many in her community, and beyond. The 80-year resident of Westbury died in her home Jan. 26. She was 100 years old.

Hall was a subject of Ken Burns' recent documentary, Not For Ourselves Alone, which chronicled the women's suffrage movement, the recipient of the Bertha Brimmer Award for Most Distinguished Alumni, presented by her alma mater, SUNY Albany, and a beloved high school English teacher for 35 years.

She was a champion of women's rights, and voted in the first general election open to women in 1920.

Born April 26, 1899 in East Norwich, Hall graduated from Oyster Bay High School in 1916. She was hired to teach English at South Side High School in Rockville Centre, after graduating from State College for Teachers at Albany, now SUNY Albany. She left South Side after one year, but continued teaching, in Sayville for two years, and in Mineola for seven. She then went to John Adams High School in Ozone Park, Queens for seven years, and to Andrew Jackson High School, where she remained until she retired in 1954.

Hall married Willard Hall, a friend from her elementary school days. Mr. Hall died eight years ago at the age of 95.

Hall was a member of the League of Women Voters, and the American Association of University Women.

A memorial service was held Feb. 5 at the Westbury United Methodist Church, where Hall had been an active member for many years.

The Reverend Robert E. Rhodes, Jr., shared the pulpit with Fr. Frank Gaeta from St. Brigid's Parish, who was a longtime friend of Hall's. The church was filled to overflowing with friends and family.

"She was a remarkable woman, well loved by everyone," said Westbury resident Carl Lidstrom. "We went to the same church, and I don't think a Sunday ever went by where Ms. Hall wouldn't reach for my arm to greet me.

"That's the kind of woman she was."

Ken Burns, in preparing his recent documentary on the women's suffrage movement, was reaching out for a woman who had voted in 1920 in the first general election open to women. It was provident that he found Ethel Hall, born 1899, a former Long Island high school English teacher who resided in Westbury for the past 80 years.

In Ken Burns' own words, Ethel Hall became his star. It was a magnetic attraction, as both were devotees of values that never go out of fashion; a faith in God, love of country, strong family ties, a good education, and a healthy belief in the goodness of people. Mrs. Hall appeared in Burns' documentary and this past June, addressed a press conference in Manhattan introducing the film; the erudite remarks of this 100-year-old were carried by the New York television stations and newspapers, as well as the national wire services. Burns named the documentary Not for Ourselves Alone, a college slogan of Mrs. Hall's, elicited in an interview that subscribes to graduates teaching others.

Mrs. Hall had a rich life. She inspired excellence in her students and introduced them to the "great books." She maintained a lifelong relationship with them, especially her Mineola High School graduates, some of whom maintained that they would never have entered college without her interest and encouragement. Mrs. Hall was a testimonial to a teacher's influence being for eternity.

After her retirement, Mrs. Hall expanded her community activities. She remained an active member of her church and, until recently, chaired its Bible study group. An early member of the League of Women Voters, she moderated debates between congressional candidates. A local election day tradition was an interview with her by The Westbury Times.

Ken Burns learned that Mrs. Hall had some special sayings and wished to hear them. From her Oyster Bay High School days (Salutatorian of the Class of 1916) came the counsel "We should leave our country better than we found it." Another one was that "the politicians in Washington should think first of the country and second about their party." At the conclusion of the interview in her home in Westbury, Burns and his crew gave Mrs. Hall a loud ovation. She was indeed a Renaissance woman who touched the lives of many people.

(William L. Edwards is Ethel Hall's nephew.)