June 6, 1922-Nov. 19, 2013.
Marjorie L. “Jerry” Hallett, at 91 years of age, passed away peacefully Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, from metastasized kidney cancer at the Colorado home she shared with her late husband, William “Bill” Hallett. At the time of her passing, her family was by her side holding her hands and listening to the music she dearly loved.
She was born June 6, 1922, in Palisade, Colo., to Thomas and Ruth Taylor. Jerry especially adored her father and greatly admired her mother’s strength and self-discipline. She attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she received a degree in music education. Here, she met her loving husband of 70 years and married him on Christmas Day 1942. Together, they had four children: Kathy, Carolyn, Helen and David. Over the course of Bill’s career, the family lived in Tennessee, California, Illinois, Virginia and Colorado, and also spent a year in Aix en Provence, France, during which time they traveled over much of Europe. Jerry especially loved the home they had in Virginia which was an apartment overlooking the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Music and art were central to Jerry’s and Bill’s lives. She played oboe for many years in a variety of community groups. It was in college, when Marjorie joined an all female quartet, that she adopted the nickname “Jerry” so that they could refer to themselves as “The Four Jays.” She and Bill met because she was the music librarian at the university when Bill would come in to listen to classical recordings.
For many years, Jerry volunteered her time hosting American Field Service foreign exchange students and was “Mom” to numerous students from several different countries. When Bill retired, they spent a lot of time with their children and grandchildren, both in California and Virginia. Jerry and Bill were avid travelers, visiting countries on nearly every continent. They were among the early visitors to China when that country began opening its doors to tourists, traveling there in 1982 and again in 1987. They also visited Tibet, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Russia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. In 1989, they moved into their final home in Pagosa Springs, which their son, David, an architect, designed for them.
Jerry was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, daughter Kathy Rembert, sister-in-law Florence Hirt, grandson Steve Rembert, granddaughter Angela Hallett, her brother Gene, and her parents, Thomas and Ruth Taylor. Surviving family members include her children Carolyn, Helen and David; her sister Doris Reed; grandchildren Veronica Kortangen, Mark Rembert, Lydia Donley, Timothy Rembert, Jared Hallett and Joshua Hallett; and eight great-grandchildren.
