Edwin Ray HATCH

Edwin was born in Warren, Ohio, the only child of Cora Dean Bell Hatch, the youngest of 11 children, and Rayne Edwin Hatch, retired after 40 years at the Packard Electric Division, General Motors Corporation, Warren, Ohio and both buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Vienna, Ohio. He graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in 1948, Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A., in 1951 and Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry, D.D.S., in 1955. His specialty training in oral and maxillofacial surgery included a internship at Cincinnati General Hospital, a residency at George Washington University Hospital and a basic science year at the Graduate School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He proudly served as base oral surgeon, Captain, USAF (DC), at Scott AFB, Illinois. Before separating from the Air Force, he took the Florida state dental board and established an oral surgery practice in Palm Beach County, Florida in June 1960. He continued private practice in North Palm Beach, Florida, for 32 years serving on the active staff at four local hospitals. He was President of the North Palm Beach County Dental Society, a Founding Father of the Florida Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, a Life Member of the Florida Dental Association and American Dental Association and Retired Fellow of the American Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Following his move to the great Atlanta area, he served as a faculty member at Clayton State University in the dental hygiene department for 12 years. One of his many interests was automobiles in general but mainly sports cars starting with an Austin Healy 3000 in the Air Force and the Chevrolet Corvette beginning with its first year of production in 1953, finally buying at new 1965 Sting Ray. Racing at Sebring and Daytona Beach were always on his schedule along with NASCAR later and a faded #3 decal still on the back window. Flying was another lifelong passion, always regretting not pursuing Air Force Flight training before dental school, but finally entering a local program to get his private pilot license and owning a Waco UPF-7 biplane. Photography continued to be a consuming interest with printing, matting and framing his photographs to hand about the house. Florida boating experiences, including Bahamas adventures, could fill a volume. Boxer dogs, Sooty, Sam and Max, were his pals. Music was important, also, starting early with clarinet lessons and joining the high school marching band and orchestra with alto sax added in a dance band using Glenn Miller arrangements. Model building started very young and continued to the present with a model of SR-71 Blackbird. Travel was always important visiting all 50 states and round the world on Pan Am. Always a space exploration advocate, he followed closely the construction of the International Space Station and flights of the space shuttles on NASA TV. He and his family watched several launches of the Atlas moon shots and space shuttles from Cape Canaveral. The classic movies were his choice, one of which, "Dr. Strangelove, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb", contained his favorite song, "We'll Meet Again". He is survived by his wife of 51 years, M. Louise Hatch, a former recovery room, RN, and children, Karen Louise Slate and husband Jason, Susan Ann Miller and husband Roger, Edwin Ray Hatch, Jr. and wife Denise; grandchildren, Austin Slate, Abby Slate, Trace Miller, Trevor Miller, Lindsay Gudesen and two great-grandchildren, Morgan and Adam. A private inurnment will be conducted at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia. Messages of condolence may be sent to the family at (www.jones-wynn.com). Jones-Wynn Funeral Home, Inc. and Cremation Services of Villa Rica in charge of arrangements. 770-459-3694