Perce Hall, 93

Perce Hall, 93, of Mountain Home died Feb. 28, 2007, at the Marquis Care Center in Boise. He was surrounded by family and friends.

A viewing was held Saturday, March 3, followed by funeral services at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home. Burial followed at Mountain View Cemetery in Mountain Home. Arrangements were under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home.

Perce was born March 14, 1913, in Hyrum, Utah. He lived in the Malad and Pocatello Valley area when he was growing up.

He graduated from Malad High School and attended Idaho State University for two years. He then entered the University of Utah Law School and graduated in 1936. He worked his way through school during the depression as a janitor and other similar jobs. Perce was the first person in his family to earn a college degree.

He was admitted to the Idaho State Bar in 1937 when only two lawyers passed the bar. At age 23 he began practicing law in Mountain Home with Eugene Anderson. Anderson moved to Boise in 1938 and Perce was a solo practitioner until he formed a partnership with Robert W. Rowett in 1959. Rowett became a judge in 1970 and Jay Friedly joined the firm in 1972. The firm is now known as Hall, Friedly and Ward.

Perce married his lifetime love, Orpha Harris, in 1937. They were happily married for 67 years before Orpha died in 2004. Perce and Orpha did everything together including skiing, hunting, fishing and, most significantly, his family said, golfing.

Perce was instrumental in the location and construction of the golf course in Mountain Home. For nearly four years he went to the proposed location and picked up and removed rocks for two to three hours every night. The fruits of his labors paid off when the course was finally constructed and Perce and Orpha spent many years of enjoyment on the course.

Perce had a distinguished law practice. He practiced actively and fully for 65 years until he had a stroke in September of 2001.

In 1997 Perce received the Idaho State Bar Idaho Distinguished Lawyer Award, the highest award given by the Idaho State Bar. In 1985 he was honored in the Idaho Statesman's Portrait of a Distinguished Citizen.

He served for many years as the city attorney for Mountain Home and was the prosecuting attorney for Elmore County in the 1940s.

His reputation as an attorney was based on his integrity and reliability in dealing with his fellow lawyers, his family noted. "He was a man on whose word you could rely."

Perce also was active in numerous civil activities including receiving the Boy Scouts Silver Beaver award. He was a charter member of the Mountain Home Elks Lodge, Chairman of the Elmore County Red Cross and Chairman of the Elmore County Republican Party. He was the attorney for the Elmore County Highway District for 60 years.

Perce is survived by: his two sons, Dr. Stanton H. and his wife, Sharon (Price) Hall, of Seattle, Wash., and Richard E. and his wife, Tonya (McMurtrey) Hall, of Boise; seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Orpha, one brother and two sisters.

The family suggests that Hall's memory can be honored by contributing to a favorite charity