DITA K. HATCH

HATCH DITA KEITH HATCH On January 30, 2015, following a severe stroke, Dita Keith Hatch passed away at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, five months short of her 100th birthday. During her remarkable lifetime she witnessed an explosion of inventions and household amenities that included automobiles, radio, airplanes, television, computers, and space travel. A widow for her last 33 years, of which 17 were spent in Kensington Manor, Dita is survived by her three children, six grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren. Born in Costa Rica, the last of eight children, Dita could trace her ancestry on her mother's side back to Spanish conquistadors of the XVI century, and on her father's side to the Pilgrims, railway builders in Central and South America, and to the co-founder of the United Fruit Company, which introduced bananas into US markets in the 1880's. At age 8 Dita accompanied her mother by riverboat and mule-back over the Andes to attend the birth of her oldest sister's first baby in BogotÁ, Colombia. Dita spoke three languages-Spanish, French, and English-and was an avid reader and story teller, and was a long time member of McLean Woman's Club. Returning home on a steamship from "finishing school" in New Jersey, Dita met her future husband, Winslow Hatch, an American botanist, on an expedition to study tropical plants in Jamaica. After a 4-year courtship by mail the couple was married in 1937. Dita and "Win"-now a college professor and eventual Dean-raised their two sons and a daughter in New Hampshire, Washington, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Dita's oldest son, Bob, became an Executive Vice President of General Mills and would later launch three other companies, the largest being Cereal Ingredients in Kansas City. Dita's second son, John, founded a nonprofit agency, FINCA, which offers business loans to low-income mothers in 23 developing countries. Dita's daughter, Rosita, is a language teacher and world traveler. Prior to Dita's stroke, the Hatch family was actively planning a large celebration of Dita's life on the 100th anniversary of her birth-June 12, 2015. That event will now still occur as scheduled. Anyone who was close to Dita, or has a special photograph or remembrance to share, is warmly encouraged to do so via a card or letter to John Hatch, 4 Fajada Wash, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508. Services will be held at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Boulevard West, Silver Spring, Maryland, Saturday, February 7, 2015, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. with Funeral Service at 11 a.m. Interment at Woodlawn Cemetery, Princeton, Massachusetts. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to FINCA International in Dita's honor at www.finca.org/hatch-memorialIn">www.finca.org/hatch-memorialIn lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to FINCA International in Dita's honor at www.finca.org/hatch-memorial