Barbara Jean Hatch, Life Journey

Baking with the Dog

One day our father brought home the cutest Cocker Spaniel dog that we named Bingo. Bingo used to be so patient with all of us. I remember one day when Barbara was quite a young child. She got a hold of a flour sifter and covered Bingo with flour. When Mom saw what she was doing she scolded her and told her to clean up this mess! Naturally, Barb grabbed the hose and sprayed Bingo with water, which just created a huge dough-y mess. Have you every seen a dog covered in flour paste? I think Bingo gave Barb a wide birth after that.

Fish Story

Grandpa Paul loved to fish. Rumors were that he was the best fisherman in our community and knew all of the best places to fish. On many occasions when the four Jones boys were driving their mother crazy Grandpa Paul would take them fishing. There were two times that stick out. The first one was when he took us all to Satus Pass to fish. He found one of his secret fishing holes, baited our hooks, and left. When he returned he took us to get lunch which consisted of a six pack of pepsi, a loaf of bread, and two cans of sardines. One look at those oily fish with the heads and tails still on ended our lunch--we ate the bread. Since Barb was the youngest there were many times he took Barbara along. He, like many fisherman, had his secret spots, whose location he didn't share with anyone. On one particular occasion he dropped Barbara off and continued on to his secret fishing hole. Barbara got lucky and caught a fish about a foot long. She stuffed it down the front of her levi jacket so Grandpa Paul wouldn't see it when he picked her up. She inquired about his luck and he admitted he hadn't caught anything. She then proudly displayed her own catch. He slammed on the brakes, turned the truck around and took her back to where she was fishing. He tried his luck for the next little while but was unsuccessful. Barbara never let him forget it.

Korea

Upon graduation from high school, Barbara joined the Army following in her father's footsteps. Barbara served for three years as a Utility Helicopter Repairer and spent 11 months 4 days in Korea. During her time in Korea Barbara shared that she learned to drive a supply truck-in fact the only one to volunteer to drive the truck through the streets to deliver. She also shared that on one occasion she was working on repairing a helicopter with a higher ranking soldier, she said the helicopter wasn't ready for the test flight but the higher ranking soldier took the helicopter up---it was leaking oil so bad it almost didn't make it back to the base. That's when she requested to be reassigned to Supplies.

Barbara and the Bird

Barbara loved baby animals. We would buy chicks in the spring that were supposed to grow into egg-laying hens. One, however, turned out to be a pretty mean rooster. Its infamy spread across the town and even kept the Avon lady away, which in the view of some was not a bad thing. On one particular day, after a vicious attack upon her person, Barbara grabbed a broomstick and attempted to bludgeon said bird into oblivion. Though injured, it escaped under the car and flopped around until Barbara was convinced it was dead. She called on a neighbor to come and help retrieve it, but by the time he arrived, the rooster had recovered and was strutting around proclaiming his dominance once more. Forced to resort to extreme measures, Barbara enlisted her son-in-law, one Wyatt Ramsay, who came packing a small caliber firearm. The rest, as they say, is history. And that's how Barbara came to be known as the chicken assassin.

Thanksgiving Turkey

One year, our crop of baby bird yielded two turkeys, one named Christmas and one named Thanksgiving. The second bird grew to be 37 lbs, dressed out. When it came time to slaughter Thanksgiving, I found it was too heavy for the usual method, so I headed into the house to get a rifle to dispatch the bird. While I was thus occupied, Barbara decided to take matters into her own hands and endeavored to execute said bird by means of a small wooden dowel to the head. She chased it all over the yard and finally managed to corner it. While her attempt on its life was ultimately unsuccessful, she did manage to 'tenderize' it in vivo. The bird, however, had the last laugh. We set the temperature to cook it overnight but neglected to turn the oven on. We awoke the following morning, anticipating the tantalizing aroma of a turkey dinner only to realize our error. Due to its size, and our time constraints, Barbara ended up cutting it in half and cooking one side in the oven and the other one on the grill outside. Surprisingly, it worked very well and our repast wasn't even late. The other turkey of this pair also proved 'difficult' to cook. Barbara set it out in the trailer to thaw and then forgot about it for three months.

Blowing in the tank

Told from her husbands perspective. Barbara and I were married somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 years and towards the end she learned to tolerate my idiosyncrasies. But in the early days she struggled. One day she decided to take Jon to the dentist in the northwest part of Tucson. I warned her that the car was almost out of gas & needed to be serviced prior to her short journey. Somehow that message didn't register, and absent the fuel tank being replenished, the wheels on the car stopped going round and round on the hill near El Conquistador Resort. I was carpooling with another gentleman, and on our way home we spotted, on the side of the road, my old colt that Barbara had been driving. We stopped, assessed the situation, and decided that the colt was out of gas. We drove to a nearby circle K, borrowed their loaner gas can, returned to the colt, got it started, and returned the gas can to the circle K. On the return trip to our deserted colt, we encountered Jon & Barbara walking on the side of the road. We stopped & picked them up. Barbara began, immediately and eloquently, to express her vexation . Being unable to let such an opportune moment pass me by, the devious side of my brain slipped into over drive. Barbara, I said, I need to apologize to you for not previously informing you of the special features on this vehicle. When you run out of gas, you can release a reserve by blowing into the tank. This allows the car to be driven another 30 miles. You probably won't be surprised to learn that Barbara did not believe me, and strongly articulated that disbelief. My devious side smirked in anticipation as we pulled along side the colt. I got out and walked confidently to the car. Opening the gas tank, with a dramatic flare, I leaned down & gently blew inside. Carefully controlling my expression as my wife watched my every move and my car-pooling companion struggled to keep his composure, I slid into the driver seat and turned the key. The engine sprang to life and my shenanigan was complete. Barbara was rendered speechless for the remainder of the trip. I'm fairly certain she never forgave me for that.

Crearive cooking

All of us girls were known for our creative cooking...not. Here is a story about Green Gravy Certain meals were almost traditional, and Saturday mornings were reserved for biscuits and gravy. One year it just so happened that March 17th (Saint Patrick's Day) fell upon said day and Barbara, myself and my friend, David Elliot the younger, were out on an early morning hike. My eldest son, one Nathen Hatch, felt that plain white biscuits and boring white gravy did not do the holiday justice and decided to take matters into his own hands. When we returned, Barbara was horrified to find green gravy waiting. Not many partook of breakfast that morning and it became a running joke in the family that is still referenced to this day.

Life is a Jorney

Life is a journey...we never know what we are going to get. Each one of us here today got to share our life journey with Barbara's life journey. We all have our memories that we are sharing today. It is never too late to create memories with those we love. My father, Paul Jones used to tell us that if it isn't important next week--let it go. I had not seen Barbara for 15 years. Our lives went our separate way with our children, work etc. Barbara also had trouble keeping track of her phone--you all know what I mean. The other thing that I chuckle about now is that if you called Barb to catch up...she did all the talking, shared what she needed to share and then would be done. About 5 years ago I started trying harder to be in touch with her without a lot of success. I wanted to see here but didn't take the extra step to make it happen. The in Nov. Mylinda called my sisters and said she was in intensive care. At that time I was having serious health issuses myself but I went ahead and made arrangements to come for a visit. The day before I was to leave for the visit I found out that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I thought about not coming but I think God wanted me to. I got to spend four awesome days with my youngest sister in a way that had never happened before. Here was my younger sister teaching me how to deal with breast cancer. Everywhere we went people were happy to see her but I was the lucky one because she taught me the power of sisters helping sisters. She gave me courage. On Jan. 20, Barbara wrote on her Facebook page. I would like to share these words with you. "Just think about my kids far away...I hope and pray this New Years that I may be kinder to others, more thoughtful of others, not hurt and (probably be judgemental) of why people don't act the way I would in a situation but remember we all have free agency. I have felt my mortalty and have been trying to make an account of my life. One of the things that has made me safisfied is seeing my kids advance, gain an education, and progress so much further than I did and becoming wonderful productive adults. Recently I had three big events I considered blessings: 1. When Mylinda Ellis and family moved back from Oklahoma. She came with her husband and children to support us. Mylinda kept family and friends informed of my progress or lack of progress and she was instrumental in getting Andrea home from Kuwait. 2. The second blessing was when my sister Nancy came to visit and take me to two of my radiation appoints. This was the first time in 15 years that we got to visit. 3. The third blessing is that I am really so thankful for my three older sisters, Nancy, Jan, and Joyce. Also my nephew Aaron for the good jerky. Thank you so much.

Memories from the young ones

Grandchildren : Barbara loved her grandkids. She loved to do things with them. She was even called "Grandma Bubbles" because she loved to blow bubbles with the little ones. They baked together and did crafts. Every year she loved to dye Easter eggs with the kids, whether it was Easter or not. She did facials and painted nails. Grandma always had bags of "treasures" the kids loved to look through...she was quite a collector of..................and as many of you know that meant everything. Words from a niece Taylee. Please tell everyone that I am sorry for their loss and that she was a very beautiful person. I will miss her and I only met her once. Story from a niece Tyra. On one of Barbara's trip to Washington she had to buy gifts for everyone. One of the gifts was a talking fish for Grandpa Paul. All you had to do was a button and the fish would talk and dance. Tyra loved to push that button.