Women's Tribute: Mary Jo Hall

Mary Jo Hall wears many hats for the Town of Trezevant, currently serving as head of the Street and Parks departments. It’s a continuation of an eclectic resume ranging from factory work to education.

She was born in Huntingdon to F. M. and Joe Ann Tidwell and lived in the Terry community of Carroll County. Her father was a farmer. Her mother was a homemaker and drove a school bus, the first woman to do so in the county.

Mary Jo attended Westview Elementary through eighth grade and graduated from Trezevant High School in 1980.

She was a standout basketball player, earning all-state honors and was at one time the top defensive player in the state. Her senior season was the first year of full-court basketball for girls, replacing the three-on-three format.

Mary Jo told The Banner, “Sports was all I had time for. It was different back then, hard to get to practice. I had good coaches, both Richard Welch and Barry Martin.”

The summer she graduated, she married Terry Hall from Trezevant, and they’ve been married nearly 46 years.

Mary Jo worked at WSW, a pajama factory, for five years until she had her first child.

She was a homemaker until her three daughters, Lacey, Jennifer and Emily, started school, then she began substitute teaching at the three West Carroll schools, which she did for several years.

During that time, Mary Jo also coached high school softball and helped coach teams at the Little League field in Trezevant. Two of her Cal Ripken teams won state championships and competed at the national level.

She also directed traffic at the elementary school, her first job with the Town of Trezevant.

Eventually, Mary Jo shifted her focus to contract cleaning, which she did for several post offices, churches and homes. That parlayed into a full time cleaning job at West Carroll Junior Senior High School for five years.

When the Trezevant parks and recreation position became open, a job Mary Jo had her eyes on for some time, then-Mayor Dennis Mitchell asked if she could also handle some water department duties until more help could be hired. Mary Jo replied that she would do it to the best of her ability.

And she did just that, handling responsibilities of multiple departments for about a year and a half, operating under the supervision of outside licensed water operators.

The water department was eventually restaffed, but Mayor Bobby Blaylock appointed Mary Jo head of the parks and street departments.

She said about the sudden slate of responsibilities, “Everybody was looking to me all the time. It was different. I enjoy my job. I love everything about it. It can be hard at times, but all-in-all, I love this town, the people. It’s been a perfect fit for me.”

She said she enjoyed working on the projects and events, such as the Easter and Halloween events at the park, and her work with Rita Foster to improve the park. In recent years, a playground and walking track have been installed. “We’re just trying to build the park,” she said, “Make the town somewhere you want to live.”

She said, “I’m lucky. I’ve got a good board, a good mayor and vice mayor. They trust me to make good decisions. They include me in decision-making. But when the mayor tells me to do something, I will do the best of my ability to get it done.”

But her favorite part of the job, she says, is mowing. “I enjoy the mowing, being outside.”

That hearkens back to her youth, growing up on a farm. “I grew up in the ‘60s, didn’t have an indoor bathroom. Had running water, but not hot water. We raised our own food, canned, butchered hogs and cows. From the time we were big enough, me and my brothers and my sister had to go out and work on the farm. There were cows we had to milk. I’d feed the horses and pick up hay. We drove a tractor.

“So, I knew how to run everything there was. Tractor, plow, bush hog. Things my daddy taught me.”

Mary Jo spoke to the pressure of being part of a small team of go-to people when situations arise that affect the citizens. “It’s hard, but I work with a good bunch. We ask the public to remember, there’s three of us. Where a lot of other towns have 25 or 30, you’ve got three of us. Give us time, we’ll get to you as quickly as we can. You check on the elderly first, and you go from there, make sure everybody is okay. We’re lucky we’ve not had any major, major disasters.”

She said one of the biggest challenges is “just being a woman all the way around.” She noted, “Somebody will come in, and they’ll say ‘I want to talk to the boss’ and they don’t expect it to be me. But it helps being from a community where everybody knows you.”

She named some of the big influences in her life.

“My mother was a big influence. There was nothing she couldn’t do. She could refinish furniture, she could do electrical work, plumbing work, painting.” She also called her grandmother a “hard-working woman.”

Joyce Scates taught English at Trezevant High. “She’s always been a big influence in my life, from the time I was in high school, she’s always been there for me. She’s soft spoken, which I’m not, but she made me enjoy English. I love English now, I love to read, and as a matter of fact, I love “To Kill a Mockingbird.” That’s one of my favorite books of all time, and we had to read it in high school. Mrs. Joyce gave me her copy of that book, and that made a big impression on me. But she’s just a lady in general. That always meant a lot to me, that she was soft spoken, didn’t have to get loud, and was well-respected. It seemed like everyone just loved her.”

Besides their three biological daughters, another child, Michelle, also lived with the Halls. Mary Jo said, “We think of her as a daughter.” Between the four daughters, Mary Jo has 12 grandchildren, one of whom passed away.

Mary Jo spoke about the progress women have made in her lifetime. “I’ve seen a lot of changes, from women staying home and raising their kids to going out into the workforce. Now it’s a necessity for most women. When I was growing up, women didn’t have to really work, she might choose to work to make a little extra money, but most didn’t work a full time job. Now, most families couldn’t survive if they didn’t have two incomes.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth, women being more responsible for more things. Years ago, we barely had any women on the board.” She mentioned that Pam Bryant, her “best friend in the whole, wide world,” was a board member when Mary Jo was first hired. Bryant began her teaching career Mary Jo’s senior year, and the two later coached together.

She noted another accomplished local woman. “I watched Janice McClain, which is another person that I love dearly. She became president of the bank and she started as just a teller, and she was mayor of Trezevant. You see people step up.”

Mary Jo said, “I just want to see women be well-educated, however they choose, and choose their path. Don’t be afraid to do what they consider a man’s job. Don’t be afraid to try. You’d be surprised with yourself.”