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Michael Hatfield passed away on Nov. 4, 2014, at home in Oracle, Ariz. He lived in Arizona for over a decade and always loved the desert. His enduring passions included cars, airplanes and playing bridge.
Michael (who also went by “Mike,” or, when he was feeling feisty, “Dr. Wonderful,”) was born Virgil Michael Hatfield on Dec. 31, 1933, in Nampa, Idaho. He was the middle child for Virgil Martin and Mary Leota (Kennedy) Hatfield. Sharon was the eldest daughter and Jane was the youngest. His family moved several times in the Boise area, and he graduated from Weiser High School in 1951.
After studying piano at Whitman College for a year, he joined the Navy in 1952 and served on the USS Oriskany during the Korean War. He repaired radios on jet fighters, and he loved being around aircraft. He was rated an Aviation Electronics Technician, with the rank of Petty Officer Third Class, when he was honorably discharged in 1956.
That same year he married Nancy Kohls and worked for IBM as a typewriter and time clock repairman in Boise. They had three children: Michael, Laurie and Robert. He completed Boise Junior College’s two-year pre-med program, then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Optometry from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. When his marriage ended in 1967, he moved to Portland and worked as an optometrist for the Oregon City Eye Clinic.
He married MaryLee Jones in 1968. They had a daughter, Julie, and he was a loving stepfather to MaryLee’s three children from her first marriage. They also lived in Kennewick and Spokane, Washington. That marriage ended in 1982 and he returned to the Portland area.
In the 1970s, Mike fulfilled a lifelong dream and took flying lessons. He received his private certification in 1972 and went on to earn his commercial and instrument ratings. He was in a plane whenever he could find a spare moment, logging about 500 flights. He flew himself and family members on vacations and preferred to fly low wing planes, such as a Piper PA-28 Cherokee. He flew until 1999, when he reluctantly decided his slowing reflexes were becoming a liability.
One of his most remarkable flying experiences was flying over Mount St. Helens right after its famous eruption on May 18, 1980. He and two friends – one a photographer – had already planned to fly over the mountain to check it out and could hardly believe their good fortune. They took some magnificent photos before safely returning east.
Mike retired from optometry in January 1997. He visited Arizona several times and his heart was drawn to the desert mountains, so he left Oregon for Arizona in 2002. In 2009 he reconnected with a former colleague, Lois Patterson, whom he knew from working at the Oregon City Eye Clinic 40 years earlier. Their friendship blossomed into love and they married in March 2010. Despite his increasing health challenges, they packed as much love and laughter as possible into their time together.
His pride and joy was his 1994 Jaguar XJS convertible that he owned for several years. He thoroughly enjoyed playing bridge every week with the gang at the Oracle Community Center, right up until two weeks before he passed. He was an active member of the Oracle Union Church. He never grew tired of Arizona sunsets and its clear, starlit nights. He liked writing letters, making stained glass artwork, quilting, billiards, bowling, and anything to do with trains or clocks.
Forgiveness was a recurring theme in his life, for himself as much as those he loved.
Mike is survived by his wife Lois, his sister Jane, his children Michael (Sherry), Laurie, Robert, and Julie, plus his seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
On Friday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m., a graveside service will be at the Oracle Cemetery, with a potluck reception immediately afterwards at the Oracle Union Church’s Trowbridge Hall at 705 East American Ave. Charitable remembrances may be made to the Casa de la Luz Hospice in Tucson or to the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon.
As Mike would say, “Now I can fly anytime.”
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