03/26/10 — WILBERT R. HATCH

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WILBERT R. HATCH

WILBERT R. HATCH

May 25, 1924-March 24, 2010

DUDLEY -- Wilbert Ray Hatch, 85, 797 Emmaus Church Road, passed away peacefully Wednesday afternoon following a lengthy illness. He was at Wayne Memorial Hospital, lovingly surrounded by his family, when death came.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Rhodes Friends Meeting, 2177 O'Berry Road in Mount Olive with pastor Carroll Overman officiating. Interment with military honors will be in Maplewood Cemetery in Mount Olive.

Mr. Hatch was a World War II United States Army veteran, a recipient of the Bronze Star, with service in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and England.

A retired farmer after becoming disabled at age 46, he continued to have a keen interest in farming and always maintained a large vegetable garden from which he cheerfully distributed his bounty with neighbors and friends.

WILBERT R. HATCH

He was a longtime member of Rhodes Friends Meeting in which he was quite active, serving as superintendent for 16 years, and he was church treasurer and had served on various elder and finance committees.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Stella Odom Hatch of the home; four children and their spouses, Rhae H. and Mickey McClenny of Dudley, Alice H. and John Roberts of Dudley, Annie H. and Tommy Grantham of Grantham and Ronnie and Janice Hatch of Goldsboro; grandchildren, Eric Hatch, Kevin Roberts and wife, Melissa, Adam Roberts and fiancée, Dorothy DeBruine, Jaime Kelly and husband, Ralph, Travis Grantham and wife, Elizabeth, and Erin Grantham; and great-grandchildren, Brandon Hatch, Payton Hatch, McKayla Smith, Jordyn Grantham, Luke Kell, and soon-to-arrive Brady Holt Kelly.

Mr. Hatch was preceded in death by his parents, F. M. and Nellie Anderson Hatch; a brother and sister-in-law, Woodard and Hazel Hatch; a son-in-law, James Grizzard; and two grandsons, Jay Grizzard and Tony Ray Grizzard.

The Hatch family will receive friends at Tyndall Funeral Home in Mount Olive tonight from 7 to 9, and at other times at the home of Alice and John Roberts, 781 Emmaus Church Road in Dudley.

(Pd)

Published in Obituaries on March 26, 2010 1:48 PM