GRAVETTE — ”The summer of 1951 was hot; much like this summer. It was in that year on a hot July day that an idealistic young man drove into town. And Gravette and all our lives have never been the same.”

Those words first written in The Gravette News Herald in 1983 and repeated in the Gravette Centennial History Book in 1993 are just as true today as they were then.

Those words, and several paragraphs, described Dr. Billy V. Hall, who can accurately be described as a “true icon of Gravette.”

On Monday of this week, another hot July day, Dr. Billy V. Hall left us.

He succumbed at the Gravette Medical Center Hospital, now known as Ozarks Community Hospital, the building that was his second, no, make that his first home for so many years.

Dr. Hall’s influence, his vision and his generosity arevisible throughout Gravette and the area. And those whom he served with such love and professionalism, his patients, are scattered throughout the nation. Such a walking, living legacy for a legendary man.

His obituary, including the time of service, is included on Page 4A of this week’s Eagle Observer. His family requests contributions to the Gravette Community Foundation or the Alzheimer's Association of Arkansas and Oklahoma rather than flowers.

Editor’s Note:We welcome your letters, comments and remembrances about Dr. Hall, who has been such an integral part of Gravette and the area for so many years. We will include selected comments next week and the originals will be presented to Dr. Hall’s family. Send them to arrive no later than this Saturday to: Eagle Observer, Box 640, Gravette; by email to [email protected]; or drop them by the office in Gravette.

News, Pages 1 on 07/11/2012