Covid-19 claims Jeannette elementary school secretary Dana Hall

The Jeannette community is mourning the loss of Dana Hall, a secretary at Jeannette City School District, who died over the weekend of covid-19 complications.

Jeannette football Coach Roy Hall said that his sister-in-law was last at work a week and a half ago, before she became ill. The 55-year-old later was admitted to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, where she eventually was placed on a ventilator and died Sunday afternoon.

Roy Hall couldn’t say how his sister-in-law may have contracted the virus. He expressed sadness that she has joined the growing number of Americans who have died of the illness.

“There are over 250,000 families who feel like our family does today,” he said, referencing the number of covid-related deaths reported across the United States. Worldwide, there have been more than 1.4 million deaths and nearly 60 million cases.

Hall said his sister-in-law was dedicated to the school district.

“She was born in Jeannette, and she’s a Jeannette graduate,” he said.

Employed at the district for 17 years, Dana Hall was the school secretary at McKee Elementary after serving as a special education secretary.

She will be “sorely missed,” said Superintendent Matthew Jones. “We are all saddened and heartbroken. Her loss is going to impact not only her family, but the entire community.

“She was just a rock of the community. She was known for her joyful demeanor, her smile and her calming effect in the office.”

Dana Hall is survived by Larry Hall, her husband of more than 30 years, two adult sons and a granddaughter, her brother-in-law said. Details of funeral arrangements weren’t immediately available.