Brenda Chester Hall

Mrs. Brenda Chester Hall, 59, of Clay Hill, Florida passed away Wednesday December 9, 2020 after a 4 year-long battle with cancer. She was born in Parkersburg, WV on November 11, 1961, daughter to the late Clement James Offenberger and Carrie Somerville Mixer. She was preceded in death by her first husband of 22 years, Bill Chester, "BC". She was also preceded in death by her sister Linda Scott Lynn. 

Brenda is survived by her husband Eric Meador Hall; his mother Kay Pira, who she adored; her niece Rebecca Chester and her two children Cody and Tristan; and her nephew Dwight Lynn and his wife Sharon and their children Ryan, Daniel and Catlin; cousin Sandy Staats and her husband Andy; cousin Tina Fuller and her husband David; and brother in law Larry Lynn.

Brenda was a gift to everyone she ever met. It wouldn't take you long to realize you had befriended a real-life angel on earth. She never met a stranger and you couldn't help but fall in love with her gentle and caring ways. Everyone loved her, there was nothing not to love. She was intelligent, generous, funny, witty and so beautiful in every possible definition of the word. My pet name for her was Binna. She was introduced to me by mutual friends Joi and Dennis Thomas at the Ham Jam in Green Cove Springs. For that introduction I'll be forever grateful. At the time I'm sure they didn't realize they had brought to people together that would in a very short amount of time fall madly in love. In all our 15 years we were only apart once for 6 days as I took a temporary job with my brother Pat O'Connor in West Virginia. I'll never forget the evening I left, she stood with me in our driveway and it took a good half hour for us to say goodbye. She kept singing, “Please don't go, don't goooooo, don't go away, please don't go.” It was so hard to leave her but we really needed the money. By the fifth day apart, I bought her a ticket to fly to Charleston West Virginia because I couldn't stand being without her. That was in 2009, last time we ever spent anytime apart. Wherever I went she went and vice versa. We lived for 2 years in a 900 square foot house with one bedroom and we loved it. We both had a passion for animals and soon we had a family far to big for such a small home. Brenda started looking at houses with acreage on the internet and on a Sunday evening she found what became our forever home in the Jennings State Forest. The very next morning we drove to the house and I jumped the gate and found another gate that I was able to open so we could walk the property together. It was a dream come true for us. Within two weeks we bought what we now refer to as simply "the farm". For us it was perfect and on the day we signed all the papers, we drove to our new home and with a key, unlocked the front gate. The property had six horse stables on it so I knew it wouldn't be long before we had horses. While we walked in front of the stables I looked down and found a $20.00 bill. We took a few more steps and found another, then another, then another. In all we found $80.00 dollars on the day we bought our home. Being brutally honest and always trying hard to do the right thing, we called the man we had just purchased the house from and asked if he was missing any money. Vince is his name and he replied, I rarely carry cash but no I'm not missing any money. I explained the reason for the call and he chalked it up to great luck. We became friends with Vince and are to this day. Over the next few years our family grew by leaps and bounds. We rescued dogs and cats. At the time Brenda was diagnosed we had 78 cats and 47 dogs 2 horses and a very large pig Brenda called Nelly. The thing about rescuing critters is once you get the fever, it consumes your entire life. We never regretted having so many even though it broke us and made it impossible to ever go on any type of vacation for more than a night. She loved camping and her favorite place to camp was Ginny Springs, although Sebastian Inlet was a close second but three hours away. Hard to drive three hours for a one-night camping excursion. Brenda is a Christian with so much faith it was undeniable. She prayed often and out-loud. She believed as I do it's better for God to hear the words come from your mouth. I embrace that today. I sometimes do it in public settings just because I felt the need come over me at that moment. I've gotten some strange looks and I've gotten praised by strangers for doing it. She loved scary movies but not after 8:00pm and only if I was there to watch them with her in bed. It was always fun watching them with her because she would get as close as she could to me and squeeze my left arm during the really scary parts. Brenda has an amazing grip. Brenda always slept on the left side of the bed. That was just her thing. I believe it was because that put me closer to the front door and when the dogs wanted out, well I was closest to the front door. In case no one ever noticed, Brenda loved to sing and dance. We sang a lot and she danced a lot. I loved watching her dance. It was typically with either a dog standing on its hind legs and Brenda holding the front paws or her simply holding one in her arms and twirling around in circles while singing to the dog she held. I'm so thankful I took lots of videos. Brenda's favorite food was ICE CREAM. Specifically Blue Bunny Super Crunchy Cookie Dough. When I say favorite, I mean she had an obsession with that ice cream. I loved that about her. Whatever she loved, she loved with all her heart and Brenda's heart wasn't normal size. It was gigantic, humungous, quadruple ×. The biggest heart of anyone I've ever met and that's saying something because we have friends with enormous hearts. None bigger than my Binnas. So I could go on and on and on about my wife. It's effortless for me. She's what I like to write about. Our relationship is what love stories are made of. I've got so much story yet to tell. I miss her more than anyone could possibly imagine. My gut hurts and my heart aches. I'll spend the remainder of my days working on my path to heaven where she'll be waiting on me. God bless everyone and God bless my Binna. 

In lieu of flowers, please if your hearts tells you to, make a donation to Friends of Clay County Animals, Inc. via PayPal or mailed directly. No amount is too small or too large to. FOCCA. Friends of Clay County Animals, Inc.

PayPal: [email protected]

Mailing address:

FOCCA

P.O.BOX 8075

FLEMING ISLAND, FL. 32003

There will be a celebration of Brenda's life on Saturday April 17th, 2021 at the Camp Chowenwaw Park:

1517 Ball Road 

Green Cove Springs, FL 32043

This is the same place where Brenda and I married. 

This starts at 12:00pm and never ends. 

I hope all those that loved my Binna can make it. Bring only your smiles, memories. Food and drink will be supplied. Thank you to everyone, we are blessed by your friendship.