Enid M. Hallock Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Enid M. Hallock (1922 - 2018) A vibrant voice is stilled, yet it lingers in the hearts of many. On April 14, 2018, the incomparable Enid M. Hallock passed from this world. Born Dorothy Enid MacPherson in 1922, she was the sole daughter of Eugene Malcolm MacPherson and Alice Ruth MacPherson (nee Hardaway). Most of her childhood was spent in Carthage, Missouri. At age three she got her start as a performer by singing on a radio program in Kansas City. The experience launched her on a musical odyssey that lasted a lifetime. In 1939 the family moved to Austin, and the following year Enid graduated from Austin High School and then enrolled in the University of Texas. With encouraging musicians on both sides of the family, she joined the Glee Club and the UT Light Opera Society. Her mother was a piano teacher, and Enid took lessons from her and sang everywhere she could, often with her mother as accompanist. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa under UT’s prestigious Plan II program. During World War II, Enid sang weekends at a lounge for servicemen in the Driskill Hotel. The lonely boys flooded in for conversation and entertainment. Among them was Bruce K. Hallock, a Navy flier at the time, who was irresistibly drawn to the golden-voiced soprano. They married in 1945. After the war, Enid and Bruce operated a small airport in South Austin. During this time, their first two sons, Bruce Jr and Don, arrived. Bruce’s work as an executive pilot took the family to various locales. Enid gave birth their third son, Gary, in Dallas and fourth son, Mark, in Flint, Michigan. By the end of the 1950s, the family had returned to Austin. In 1960 she and Bruce and the four boys drove a VW Microbus (one of the first imported into the U.S.) from Austin to Panama. The six-month road trip was an adventure in every way. They’d fitted out the VW as a camper and roughed it a good deal of the time. Along the way, Enid “homeschooled” the boys, an effort she says “proved more aspirational than anything else.” Back in Austin Enid took up numerous civic causes. For years she remained active in the League of Women Voters. She was also a fervent member of the American Civil Liberties Union, serving briefly as interim director of the Austin chapter during the 1960s. She also got involved with various city-planning committees. And for twelve years she worked as secretary and student coordinator at a campus church. But singing and performing always held a special place in Enid’s heart. For decades she was a stalwart of Austin’s Wednesday Morning Music Club, having first joined in the early 1950s and remaining a member thereafter. She performed with the WMMC nearly every season and served on many committees, including most recently the Bonnie Cummins Fielder Career Advancement Grant. She took a special interest in promoting young musicians. In 1976, Enid and her son Gary became founding members of the Austin’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society. She served on the Society’s board and on other committees and appeared in numerous productions over the course of several decades, including lead roles in The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, Ruddigore, and The Sorcerer. Most memorable was her endearing portrayal of Little Buttercup in Pinafore. She also participated in other theater productions around Austin, including in the cast of a couple of UT operas. She had parts in The Marriage of Figaro and Hansel and Gretel, both with 14 performances. In addition Enid had long-term involvements with the St George’s Episcopal Church Choir and Sacred Heart Catholic Church Vigil Choir. Enid sometimes referred to herself as a “frustrated architect,” and in the 1970s she, Bruce, and sons built a 16-unit apartment complex. The project, dubbed “The Old Homestead,” featured an “early Texas look,” and the family was so pleased with the result that most of them lived there at one time or another, including Bruce and Enid in their final years. Many can attest to the lively interest that Enid maintained in practically everyone she met. She seemed to possess a genius for finding the genius in others and drawing them nearer. Her address book bulged, and her distinctive homemade birthday and anniversary cards went out far and wide. After an extended period of declining health, Enid finally succumbed to multiple organ failure. On the day she somehow knew would be her last, some family members attended in person, while others visited via phone and live chat. Enid filled her final hours as she had her life, singing and loving to the end. Her husband, Bruce K. Hallock, preceded her in death in 2005. She is survived by her four sons “Austin” Bruce (of Corvallis, Oregon), Donald (of TorC, New Mexico), Gary, and Mark (both of Austin, Texas); grandchildren Stephen, Iola, Andrew, Robert, and Thomas; great-grandchildren, Alexander Kai Tsurikov and Sonia Pangolin Vidmar Hallock; and daughters-in-law Christine Holt Hallock, Leela Devi, and Pamela Dillon Hallock. Enid’s adoring extended clan also includes many other beloved relatives, in-laws, and honorary members too numerous to list. The family extends special thanks to the staffs at both the Campbell center in Buckner Villas and St David’s Medical Center ICU for their sensitive and kind treatment and care of Enid. The family will hold a nondenominational memorial service on June 11 at 6:00 pm at the Genesis Presbyterian Church, 1507 Wilshire Blvd, Austin, Texas. A reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall at the church. Donations in Enid’s memory may be sent to one of her favorite charities, which includes Doctors Without Borders.

Enid M. Hallock

December 2, 1922 - April 14, 2018