Bess Elizabeth Hall was the first born child of Ottis Alvah Hall (Senior) and Georgia Belle Rich Hall, born on October 21, 1921 in Swainsboro, Georgia. The family home was in Twin City, Georgia. Bess's paternal grandparents, William Madison Hall and Elizabeth Woods Hall, lived in Twin City, as did her Aunt "Dobie" and Uncle Willie (known as "Greet"). Dobie and Willie had children that made up the six cousins of Bess who were all about the same age as Bess and growing up close by. Bess and her younger brother, Otis (Junior), or "Bud" as he became known, and sister Margaret or "Peggy" as she became known, attended school in Twin City. When Bess was 14, her maternal grandparents, Charlie and Bessie Rich, moved back to Twin City from West Palm Beach, Florida. Grandfather Rich built a house at 111 Maple Street. Bess, her mother and father moved in with her grandparents. Bess graduated in a class of thirty-three from the Emanuel County Institute High School in the Graymont area of Twin City. She was Class Valedictorian. After graduating from high school, Bess started attending business school in Savannah, Georgia. She received her degree and got her first job as a secretary at a real estate company about 1940. Then she changed to a civil service secretarial position at their sister company, a construction company hired to build the "Morrison Field", an Air Transport Command Center for the U.S. Army during WWII. Later, her supervisors offered her a higher paying position if she would go to Panama where the government needed her. She took the position. Her adventures in Panama were a challenge because she did not like the living conditions, the unsanitary facilities and the lack of good food. So, she came back to Georgia aboard the S.S. Santa Marta in April 1942. She was twenty years old at the time. Bess's parents had had a new baby boy, George William Hall, in 1939, so Bess now had a sister and two brothers. A short time later, Bess went to West Palm Beach, Florida, her grandparents' previous home town, and lived with her Aunt Pauline and cousins, Jerry, Billy, Janice and Susan. Bess found civil service work at Camp Murphy, near Jupiter, a few miles north of West Palm Beach. Bess was hired to be Secretary for Major Ryder, in the department that oversaw the writing of the U. S. Army textbooks. It was here that Bess met Earl George Sindlinger, a Sergeant in the Radar Unit. He was writing a training textbook. She thought he was the most handsome man she had ever met. They fell in love and were married in a Lutheran Church near Aunt Pauline's house on May 8, 1943. Earl was 27 and Bess was 21. When Bess was about to have her first child, she went back to Twin City and Carol Marie was born in the same hospital in Swainsboro where she was born. Earl was now a Second Lieutenant and stationed in New Jersey. He was transferred to Baltimore, Maryland and Bess and Baby Carol joined him there. The Army life next sent Earl and family to Atlanta in 1945. Their second daughter, Vivian Louise, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. When WWII had ended and Earl's five years of service was over, the family moved to Saginaw, Michigan, his home-state, where his parents lived. Their third daughter, Linda Lee, was born in Saginaw in 1947. After two cold, snowy winters, Bess and Earl Sindlinger and family of three daughters, moved south to Augusta, Georgia in 1949. Bess and Earl had a small home. He had the skills to add on a bedroom and a large screened porch, overlooking a large lot with a fenced-in yard that was big enough for a softball field for the girls and their friends. Bess had her Singer sewing machine and she made dresses, dolls, and stuffed animal toys for her daughters. The parents also provided a T.V., which was the newest and most desired possession in those days. The fourth daughter, Mary Frances, was born on Thanksgiving Day in 1953, so that day was a celebration of blessings. Earl's parents had moved from Michigan to a home about three blocks from Bess and Earl to enjoy and help with the grandchildren. Earl and his father opened a car repair business on the grounds of Camp Gordon and serviced public and military vehicles. Bess had changed her church affiliation from Methodist to Lutheran, the church of Earl's upbringing. Both family generations attended the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on Greene Street in downtown Augusta and later, they both became charter members of the new Lutheran Church of the Ascension near where they lived in south Augusta. Earl and Bess designed and built a two-story brick home on Richards Road when the older girls were teenagers. Needing more income, Bess went back to work as a civil service secretary at Fort Gordon, formerly Camp Gordon. In a few years, the house was too big since two daughters had married and moved out. They moved to another brick home on Alfred Lane, while Mary and Linda finished school. Bess and Earl were still working parents and their next move was to Enterprise, Alabama, and work was found on a military base named Fort Rucker. Time passed. Bess and Earl again changed their home, since daughters Linda and Mary had married and moved out, and this time it was to Nashville, Tennessee to live in an apartment. It was here in 1975 when Bess was diagnosed with a dangerous breast cancer, but she survived and recovered. The illness prompted them to return to Augusta and live closer to Vivian, in a subdivision built by her and her husband, called Goshen Plantation. Bess was happy in this three-bedroom house with a yard for her gardening. She was the baby-sitter for grandchildren and had many neighborhood and church friends. Earl and Bess had had 58 years together, when in 2001, he succumbed to heart disease and cancer. He is buried at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Augusta. Bess did not remarry. Earl was her one and true love her whole life. She lived on in nearby Aiken, South Carolina, which was close to the youngest daughter, Mary, for several years. Bess's health was good except another bout with breast cancer. In 2014, in a twist of fate, Bess moved back to Florida near West Palm Beach. She lived in Atria-St. Joseph's, in Jupiter, Florida, in Assisted Living and enjoyed her new lifestyle. She was near her daughter, Linda, who had moved down from New York. During her first year at Atria-St. Joseph's, she had a Mother's Day party which was attended by all her daughters and other family members. She was energetic, friendly, and enjoyed entertaining guests; everyone loved seeing her and having a vacation at the South Florida beaches. She and Linda would cruise by the old family homes of Aunt Pauline, her grandparents, and her uncles. She visited the previous site of Camp Murphy, which is now Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Her good health in her 90's was a wonder to all. She enjoyed her weekly beauty shop appointment and occasional shopping to stay in style. Also, she was an inspiration by taking care of herself and going for doctor checkups. In 2018, at age 96 1/2, Bess suddenly had symptoms related to a brain tumor. She died peacefully in the Trust-Bridge's hospice on August 22, 2018. Bess is survived by all four daughters, 5 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great-grandchildren, as well as her beloved sister, Peggy and little brother, George. Her graveside memorial service will be held in Augusta, at the Hillcrest Cemetery, in October, and she will be buried next to her husband.

All County Funeral Home, Jupiter, Florida, in charge of arrangements.