There will be no more dispatches from the front line of Student Affairs. The General is gone.

Bill Hall, vice president of Student Affairs, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Sunday night. He was 61.

Hall was diagnosed with cancer in December 2004 but held his steadfast work ethic until he died. He was moved into a hospice home early last week, where he spent the remainder of his days.

“We were all a little surprised at how quickly the end came,” said Ruth Gerstner, Student Affairs spokeswoman. “He was in two weeks ago.”

Staying active in university operations gave him motivation for his fight against his illness, said Patty Cunningham, a graduate student who worked under Hall.

“He had the type of perseverance that was uncanny,” she said. “He was working against all odds. He lived a lot longer than most people expected to. As I saw him physically deteriorate, I knew that he stopped fighting because he was tired.”

Even cancer would not prevent Hall from doing his duty to the student population, said Suz Scharer, Undergraduate Student Government president.

“Being active at Ohio State meant so much to him he wouldn’t let cancer get in his way. He would never complain about being tired or the pain,” she said. “He may have looked physically weak or tired but he always tried.”

Keeping active in the lives of students was everything to Hall, Gerstner said.

“He wasn’t looking forward toward retirement,” she said. “He would have been miserable sitting at home.”

Hall joined the Student Affair’s staff at Ohio State in 1977. He was a retired brigadier general from the Ohio National Army Guard. His military training shined through during his work at the university.

“Some people called him ‘The General,'” said Matt Kreiner, USG vice president. “He could be a tough guy when he had to be, but he was always really approachable. He was such a good person, and he wore those attributes on his sleeve.”

His life revolved around improving students’ lives, Kreiner said.

“He was someone that had a great sense of duty and was very dedicated to Ohio State,” said Steve Kramer, Student Affairs assistant vice president. “He was one of those people that sang ‘Carmen Ohio’ as an anthem. He was a get-things-done kind of guy – that was his demeanor. His military experience was extremely formative in his leadership style.”

Hall would spend countless overtime hours at the university, sometimes sleeping in his apartment housed beneath Lincoln Tower.

“He would stay over if he was late. He would make sure he went to every student event that he could,” Cunningham said. “A lot of students didn’t realize the type of person that the was. There’s not one person who put in more hours than Bill Hall did.”

Hall dabbled in a number of university activities and organizations, including the implementation of the Student Activity Fee, improving the student move-in process, and major construction projects, such as the new Recreational and Physical Activity Center.

“Besides his family, this was his life,” President Karen A. Holbrook said. “He was so committed to this university. This is what sustained him and gave him hope. This is what he spent his life doing. He wanted to be here as much as he could, and he wanted to be around young people.”

The loss of Hall leaves the university groping for a replacement, Holbrook said.

“He will leave an enormous hole,” she said. “I think there will be a lot of times where we will say ‘Just ask Bill Hall.'”

Hall was the quintessential Buckeye, Kreiner said.

“You can never replace him,” Cunningham said. “There might be people who say that they’re going to try, but the people who really know Bill know that you can never replace Bill Hall.”

A campus-wide memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Mershon Center.