Hall had moved to Hawai'i in 1962 and returned to the Islands after Vietnam, training peace officers for Asia and teaching a class on Vietnam at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. But Hall's passion was Republican politics and he would become executive director for the state GOP.

Paul Hooper, a professor of American studies at UH-Manoa and a longtime friend, described Hall as a gentleman who relished sparring about politics but was never nasty or blindly partisan.

"He was a really fine man," Hooper said. "He loved to talk and reminisce and argue. But you always knew you had a friend there."

Hall was a press officer for the Pacific territories during the Ford administration and a public affairs officer at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in Washington during the first Bush administration.

In Hawai'i, Hall was an adviser to Mayor Frank Fasi and Mayor Jeremy Harris. He also served on the 1981 reapportionment commission and as an adviser to the 2001 commission that drew up legislative districts.

"Jim was very versatile," said D.G. "Andy" Anderson, the city's managing director under Fasi. "He was very knowledgeable about researching and as a speechwriter. He had a political sixth sense. He could smell trouble and smell a political issue and whether it would be sensitive."

Hall was a legislative analyst for state House Republicans and a familiar presence at the state Capitol until the cancer took over earlier this year. Known for his research abilities and sense of humor — he gave Capitol reporters his own obituary two years ago — he had taken a strong interest in drug education and treatment in his later years.

Dan Boylan, a history professor at UHiWest O'ahu and another of Hall's friends, said Hall was "loyal to the Republican Party here at a time when almost no one else was."

"When he cared about something, he really did his research," Boylan said. "We always argued. But you could argue with him and the next day, it was never personal. He was a great guy to drink a beer with.

"He was a wonderful man."

Hall was particularly proud to see his daughter, Sabrina, graduate from college after overcoming some troubled teenage years when her mother passed away. Sabrina Hall became a legislative analyst with House Republicans this year when her father was ill.

"He was so beloved there," Sabrina Hall said. "He described himself to my boyfriend as a fly on the wall. He never wanted the recognition. He was always in the background. But in the last week, he just kept talking about all the things that he did and had seen in his life."

Hall, who was married twice, is survived by his daughter and two sons, James and John Hall of Honolulu, and a sister, Patricia Elias of New Jersey.

A memorial service for Hall will be held at 8 a.m. Tuesday at the Outrigger Canoe Club. Hall will be inurned at 2 p.m. at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.