Samuel G. Hatch, 1948-2003, Knob Noster

Samuel G. Hatch, 55, of Knob Noster, died Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003, at Western Missouri Medical Center in Warrensburg.

He was born Aug. 18, 1948, in Claremore, Okla., a son of Don and Wahneta Harris Hatch. On Aug. 25, 1967, in Claremore, he was married to Martha Whaley, who survives of the home.

Mr. Hatch was a 1966 graduate of Claremore High School. He received a bachelor of science degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla. He was an Air Force veteran, serving from 1970 until he retired in 1994. He was a master sergeant. He had been a mail carrier for the Knob Noster post office for the past two years. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Knob Noster.

Also surviving are two sons, Daniel M. Hatch, of Knob Noster, and Samuel G. Hatch II, of Kansas City; two sisters, Shirley Cline, of Texarkana, Texas, and Donna Howell, of Dallas, Texas; and three grandchildren.

Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville, with Dr. Kerry Skidmore officiating. Military rites will be conducted by the Whiteman Air Force Base Color Guard. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday at Sweeney-Phillips & Holdren Funeral Home in Knob Noster.

The family suggests memorial contributions to the American Diabetes Association or the American Heart Association in care of the funeral home.