Donald Joyce Hall (born July 9, 1928) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busi ...

businessman, and the chairman and majority shareholder of

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was award ...

, the world's largest greeting card manufacturer and one of the world's largest privately held companies. Hallmark's headquarters is in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

Early life

Donald Joyce Hall was born on July 9, 1928, to Elizabeth Ann (née Dilday) and

Joyce Hall Joyce Clyde Hall (August 29, 1891 – October 29, 1982), better known as J. C. Hall, was an American businessman and the founder of Hallmark Cards. Early life Joyce Clyde Hall was born on August 29, 1891, in David City, Nebraska, to Nancy "Nan ...

. His father was the founder and president of

. Hall graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1950 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

Career

Hall came to Hallmark in 1953 and became assistant to the president in 1954. In 1958, Hall became vice president. In 1966, after Hall served as administrative vice president and member of the board of directors of the company, Hall's father, Joyce Hall, retired as chairman, president, and CEO of Hallmark, handing full control of the company to Hall. In 1986, Hall stepped down as president and CEO of Hallmark, turning those positions over to Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., a native Kansas Citian and national businessman. Hall, however, retained the position of chairman of the board.

Personal life

Hall married Adele Coryell (1931–2013) on November 28, 1953. They had three children, including Donald J. Hall Jr. Hall lives in

Mission Hills, Kansas Mission Hills is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,594. The east city limits is the Kansas-Missouri state line at State Li ...

Awards and honors

*1972: Kansas Citizen of the Year *1992: Kansas Business Hall of Fame in 1992 *1995: Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

References

1928 births Living people American chief executives of manufacturing companies Businesspeople from Kansas Dartmouth College alumni People from Mission Hills, Kansas Hallmark Cards people American billionaires Pembroke Hill School alumni {{US-business-bio-stub

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards and honors

See also

References