Walter J. Hala was born March 4, 1903, in Manhattan, New York, the son of Joseph and Mary Hala. Other children in the family were Loretta and Murray. The family lived on 71st St. in Manhattan. By 1920, Walter was working as an errand boy for a jewelry store.
In 1927, Walter married Charlotte A. Balvin. The couple made their home (complete with radio set) on 30th Ave. in Queens, where Walter worked as a bookkeeper for a trucking company. 1940 found them living with Charlotte's family on Newton Ave. in Queens. In 1947 the couple divorced in Dade County, Florida.
Walter Hala died February 7, 1981, in Queens Hospital Center, and was buried on Hart Island.
Sources: U.S. Social Security Death Index; New York, New York, Birth Index, 1878-1909; 1910, 1920,1930, and 1940 U.S. Federal Census; 1915 and 1925 New York, State Census; The Daily Star, Queens Borough; Florida, Divorce Index, 1927-2001.
