Diane Hatchett

Diane Pearce Hatchett, 85, passed away peacefully on November 26, 2023 in Greenwood Village, CO.  She was born on July 14, 1938 in Oklahoma City, OK to Mildred and Lewis Pearce.  She spent most of her childhood in Amarillo, TX and attended high school there also, where she was active in various clubs and Christian summer camps.  As a youngster, Diane enjoyed going on road trips with her family to various destinations, mostly in the western and southwestern US, and had very fond memories to share of these trips.  After high school, Diane went on to Cameron College in Lawton, OK.

Attending Cameron College proved to be very life-changing, as this is where she met her future husband, Jimmy Hatchett.  They met by chance on campus when she decided to start up a conversation with Jimmy while waiting in a line.  He was smitten, they dated for several months, then married on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1957.  They both then transferred to Oklahoma State University, and while earning her Associate Degree, Diane was a loving wife and devout supporter of Jimmy while he was earning his graduate degrees from OSU, and then Purdue University.  They were blessed with the birth of their first daughter, Sabra, in December of 1964, in Lafayette, IN.  A few years later, Jimmy’s career took them to Columbia, MO, where their second daughter, Emily, was born in September of 1971.  They eventually settled long-term in Manhattan, KS where Jimmy worked for the USDA as a research entomologist through Kansas State University.  While her daughters were in school, Diane was active with swimming, and bowling on a local team and rarely missed her Wednesday morning bowling games.  She also enjoyed crocheting, sewing, reading, taking walks and playing tennis with her daughters, and supporting them with school and extracurricular activities.  She remained very close to her and Jimmy’s parents, and enjoyed family trips to visit them in Arkansas and Oklahoma. When grandchildren were born, they loved visiting them whenever they could.  Also, after Jimmy retired, they liked to travel to Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas to visit family and friends.  Diane was unceasingly proud of her husband, daughters, and grandchildren and she showed it too.  While possessing a likable feistiness at times, Diane was a very kind, sweet, but strong and salt-of-the-earth person who stayed close to her roots, and whose family was always her top priority, and dearly loved.    

Diane is survived by her daughter Sabra Deeann Kemnitz and son-in-law Mike Kemnitz of Riverside, MO; daughter Emily Jane Becker and son-in-law Lance Becker of Greenwood Village, CO; granddaughter Danyea Bliss Dickson of Topeka, KS; grandsons Jalen Lewis Dickson of Madison, WI, and Eli James Becker & Lawson Pearce Becker of Greenwood Village, CO; and many nieces & nephews and great nieces & nephews.  She was preceded in death by her husband Jimmy, her only sister Barbara Pearce Sessions and brother-in-law H.A. Sessions, her parents, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom will joyfully welcome her into Heaven.

A Graveside Service will be held for Diane on Friday, December 15, 2023 at 11am at Fort Logan National Cemetery, 3698 S. Sheridan Blvd., Denver, Colorado. Please meet at Staging Area A at 10:45am.

Please share memories of Diane and condolences with her family by signing the online guestbook below.