WINDHAM – Stanley Hall, who recovered from early tragedy to become a Windham town leader and one of the state’s top agriculture advocates, was remembered this week as a man whose straight talk guided him in all walks of life.

“People realized right up front that he was very honest, that if he had something on his mind, he’d say it, and he’d say it to you,” said state Rep. Gary Plummer, who served with Hall on the Windham Town Council. “He wasn’t going to go around town saying it to other people. You just knew you were going to get a straight story from Stan.”

Hall, who died last week at the age of 95, lost his mother when he was 9 years old and his father when he was 10. But he had a tireless work ethic that helped him build one of Maine’s largest cattle and dairy farming businesses. Hall eventually owned hundreds of acres in Windham and Gray, including much of land along Route 202 between the rotary and Falmouth Road.

Agriculture worked through many areas of Hall’s life, as he spent 29 years as director of the Cumberland County Fair and served on the Agriculture Committee during his three terms in the Maine Legislature. Hall’s son, George, owns Hall Implement, a farming-supply store in Windham.

Roger Timmons, another Windham farmer who knew Hall from childhood, served until last year as Windham’s longtime code enforcement officer. He was urged to apply to that post by Hall, who served many years as a Windham selectman and councilor.

“Stanley was one of the selectmen who hired me way back in 1973,” he said. “He’s always been a cattle dealer, but I’ll tell you, he always treated me very nice. And when he called me down, he said, ‘Roger, you’ve got to help us out.’ How could I say no to someone I’ve known my entire life? That’s how I got started in the town.”

Hall bought and sold cattle, and took great care of his sprawling farms, which can be seen on both sides of Route 202 from the rotary to Falmouth Road. He also owned acreage on the side of the Maine Turnpike just north of the Gray exit. Until his death Feb. 17, the hard-working Hall operated two of Windham’s three dairy farms, still getting up early to help with milking.

And as a good dairy farmer would, Hall loved ice cream, Timmons also recalls.

“When they hired me, the selectmen would meet every Wednesday and call me in to meet with them,” Timmons said. “Then, Stanley would say, ‘OK boys, we’re going out to look at the roads.’ So we piled in and the first place we went was the Dairy Queen. And we all had an ice cream and then we all went looking at the roads. It was good common sense back then and he treated people fairly and honestly.”

State Rep. Gary Plummer, who served as a councilor with Hall in the 1970s, when Windham adopted a council-town manager form of government, recalls Hall as a practical conservative.

“Stan Hall taught me a lesson in being a conservative. He taught me that being a conservative doesn’t necessarily mean not spending money, but it does mean getting the value for your dollar,” Plummer said. “Also, Stan was big on not spending money that you didn’t have or that you didn’t know how you were going to pay for. So, those are lessons I’ll take with me my whole life.”

An example of how Hall’s business sense manifested itself in politics still stays with Plummer.

“At one point in the early years of the Town Council, the town did not own a front-end loader, they always hired out or leased one or rented one when they needed it,” Plummer said. “And public works decided they really needed one of their own so they went out and did their homework and found a used one that they thought was in pretty good condition.

“I was the swing vote between the three old-timers and three new guys on the block. When they presented it, Stan said, ‘Well, why do you want to buy somebody else’s problems? If you need a loader go out and buy a new one.’ And that kind of set the tone for what Stan was all about. And they all assumed they wouldn’t approve the money for a new one. And that’s a story I will never ever forget about Stan, and also, don’t assume things about people.”

For those who knew him, Hall will also be remembered for his unique way of talking – fast.

“And when he was younger, he talked even faster,” Plummer recalls. “But when you got used to it, it was fine. That was Stan. He was a real people person and people who knew him, I think, universally liked him.”

Stanley Hall