News, Citizen Profile, Mary Cooper Hatcher, LaSalle Parish, La. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by: Craig Franklin of The Jena Times, Jena, LaSalle Parish, La. Wednesday, May 2, 2001, page 5B A Times-Signal Feature "Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute Jena mother provided Godly home for children For many years now her nest has been empty. But at one time, 15 children stayed under her wings. Today, she spends much of her time flying around the country and watching as her children soars with the eagles - all because of the loving influence she provided u in a Godly home in Jena. Mary Cooper Hatcher was born on May 6, 1918, in Utility, Louisiana, just west of Jonesville. Her parents were Robert and Carrice Coooper and she was one of six children. Mr. Cooper farmed the land around Utility when Mrs. Hatcher was a young child, until high water forced them off the land for the last time. Tired of battling the floods in farming, Mr. Cooper loaded up his family and they moved to Tall Timbers, later to be known as Good Pine. There he found work in the Tall Timber Saw Mill. While Mr. Cooper worked long hard days at the mill, his wife would be busy working around the Jena area in various peoples' homes. "My mother was a good cook, and she would cook and clean houses for white people when I was growing up," Mrs. Hatcher said. "Later on, she also worked in cafes, up until she retired." Mrs. Hatcher recalled that life in the Cooper house was nearly typical of all families during the 1920's and '30's. "I really had a great life," she said. "When we weren't in school, I'd help my mother washing and cleaning at the homes, and of course I had to keep our own house clean as well. Basically, whatever my parents said to do we did it." She remembers that the family across the street had children the same age as their family, so the two units became very close while growing up. In fact, the friendships formed with the Washington's during that time are still going strong today. "When I was small, we went to L&A Baptist Church," Mrs. Hatcher said. "That's where I was baptized at the age of 12. Then we started going to Evergreen Baptist Church." Later in life, after Mrs. Hatcher was married, she attended Trout Creek Baptist Church and after her husband's death, she moved to the Mars Hill area and started attending Mars Hill Baptist Church. "The Lord is first in my life," she said. "I don't like missing Sunday School and I love doing the Lord's work. He has been very good to me in my life." Growing up in Good Pine, Mrs. Hatcher attended Good Pine Rosenwall School, which was an all-black school built by a white man named Rosenwall. She attended the school until the eighth grade, when she stopped attending and went to work helping her mother and cooking for her daddy. When she was 17 years-old, Mrs. Hatcher met Levi Hatcher, although she's really not sure when, where or how they met. "It had to be at church," Mrs. Hatcher said. "Because that's the only place I went or was allowed to go. But we did meet and dated for about a year before we got married." The two were married on October 10, 1936, when Mrs. Hatcher was 18 years old. Like many families during this time, they raised most of what they ate and had a large array of livestock around their home. During the day, Mr. Hatcher worked in the lumber mill, but he, along with the family, also farmed, raised cattle, hogs, chickens, turkeys, geese, and "anything else you could name." "Whatever we could eat we raised it or grew it," Mrs. Hatcher said. "There was always plenty to do around the house." Soon after their wedding, the Hatcher's started having children . . . and kept having children . . . and kept having children, until a total of 15 were born. Mrs. Hatcher jokes about her large family now, saying that "we didn't have but 15 - that's all". With the large family came many responsibilities, which ultimately fell upon Mrs. Hatcher as her husband worked at the mill all day. But you won't hear her complain one bit. In fact, those times spend raising her children are the most precious memories she has. "It was great days and I didn't regret it one bit," she said. "But I will tell you this, if it wasn't for the Lord, we wouldn't have made it. We went through some tough times, but the Lord always brought us through." During the rough '30's, 40's, and '50's, Mrs. Hatcher recalled that her children didn't get everything that they wanted, but she made sure that they didn't go hungry. She also had a stern hand in the raising of her children, which helped to mold them into the fine adults they turned out to be. "I meant what I said and said what I meant," Mrs. Hatcher noted. "Now, I'm not going to say they were the best in the country, but they were some good children. I will say that they were really good in my sight. I didn't put up with a bunch of foolishness." Mrs. Hatcher said that during a family reunion last year, her children began to tell stories of some of the things they'd done out of their mother's sight, and even though it was years later, she still had the urge to whip them for what they'd done. "At the family reunion, I learned some things that they did and I wanted to get me a belt or a 2X4 after them," she said. "But really, they were good kids and I loved doing things with them." She said that one of the things that she made a point to do was to spend time with her children and do things with them. "I was interested in them, went to their school, played with them, talked with them, and tried to teach them right," Mrs. Hatcher said. "One of the most important things we did was go to church together. Every Sunday we'd go to Sunday School. A lot of times I couldn't go because I was going to have another baby, but they still went on and went to Sunday School even if I couldn't make it." As the mother of 15, Mrs. Hatcher remembers playing outside with her children, from baseball to dodge ball, and always tried to make each one of them feel special. "For every birthday, I'd have to make a cake and we'd have some type of party," she said. "Sometimes they'd invite friends over and sometimes it would be just us family." During the earlier years, Mrs. Hatcher remembers that children from all over the neighborhood would always come over to the Hatcher house, mainly because the Hatcher's always had something to eat. And Mrs. Hatcher never turned down a child that was hungry. Along with having fun, the children also had responsibilities around the house. This too, laid a foundation of hard work which would aide the children later in their lives. "Their daddy always left a list of chores for them to do when they got home from school," she said. "We also would have to go out and cut wood in the woods for the wood stove and wood heaters. I did that until I got tired of it and went out and bought me a gas stove. When Levi got home that day, the wood stove was gone and the gas stove was in its place." Mrs. Hatcher also placed a major emphasis on school work, even though she'd only completed the eighth grade, and had all of her children complete their homework assignments before they went to bed at night. With their mother's guidance, her 15 children learned the importance of a good education, strong family support, hard work, and most importantly, a strong faith in the Lord. Maxine, the oldest, finished cosmetology school and later attended Medical Technician training at UCLA Medical Center. She would work there for sixteen years until she retired on disability after suffering two brain strokes. She also worked for the Los Angeles County School District as a teacher's aide for many years. Jase B. Hatcher, the oldest boy, was the only child that did not graduate until he finished service with the U.S. Army. During that time, he earned his high school diploma and also became a vocational nurse where he served as a medic in the army. When he got out, he began carpentry work, and is a self- taught carpenter, plumber, roofer, brick layer, etc. Taking after his mother, he performs a lot of work out of the goodness of his heart, not allowing people to pay him for his efforts. He is also a preacher and will not compromise the gospel for anyone. Louise Jordan, the third child, was the first to attend and graduate from college. She attended Natchez Jr. College for two years on a basketball scholarship, and then transferred to Grambling where she graduated from. She then worked for as a teacher for one year and then went to UNLV and received her master's degree. For 35 years she worked as a child abuse and neglect supervisor for the Clark County Juvenile Court. Josephine H. Washington, the fourth child, also graduated from Grambling and was a teacher for many years in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. She is the wife of Pastor Abe Washington, a Jena native. Levi Mark Hatcher, the fifth child, graduated from Grambling and worked at Alcorn College as a dormitory dean for many years. Now, he is a businessman living in Macon, Mississippi, where he is currently running for mayor. He also is a minister of the gospel. Robert Lee Hatcher, the sixth child, also graduated from Grambling. He worked for many years for General Motors and now is a business man, owning car and truck dealerships in three states. He lives in Darien, Illinois, a suberb of Chicago. Sherman Mitchell Hatcher was the first Hatcher child to graduate high school from Jena High School. The previous six children graduated from Good Pine High School. He too, graduated from Grambling and for the past 27 years has served as warden at a Nevada State Prison. He is married to a Grambling graduate who is a Las Vegas attorney. Charlie L. Hatcher attended Southern University. He was a captain and company commander in the U.S. Army. He later attended UCLA and is presently working as a community developer in the Southwest Section of Los Angeles. Theresa Hatcher also attended Soutern University. She then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where she completed clerical training. She worked for years at the U.S. Test Site for bomb testing, then enrolled in the U.S. Ambassadors Program. She worked as secretary to the U.S. Ambassadors in Lima, Peru, Paris, France, Serena Leone, West Africa, Accra, Ghana, Conokry Guinea, Fort-De- France, Martinique in the Carribean, Rebot, Morocco North Africa, Bolivia, South America and Berliados, West Indies. She received a bachelor of theology degree from Covington Theology School in Rossville, Georgia, and is real estate broker and pastor of Hatcher Hallow Christian Center, a children's ministry in Las Vegas, Nevada. Millicent Gail Demps also graduated from Southern University and entered the U.S. Navy. After 20 years of teaching in Washington, D.C., her husband made an unusual move. He retired and went with her to her assigned port in Antiqua, West Indies, where she was the second in command on the base. She served until retirement as a Lietenant Commander and now is a pastor's wife and principle of their school in Pensacola, Florida. Bonita Yvonne Armstrong is another Southern University graduate, majoring in Journalism. She worked for several years with a Monroe, Louisiana, newspaper, and in Augusta, Georgia and Las Vegas, Nevada. She has also been a television host for her church and is now employed at Nevada Power Company in Las Vegas. Carolyn Diane Oats attended Clark County Community College in North Las Vegas and currently is attending UNLV. She and her husband has built a housing development and invested beyond in other real estate holdings. She works for the Nevada State Welfare Office where she is a licensed social worker dealing specifically with gerontology patients. Elizabeth Craven spent most of her adult life in San Francisco and Oakland, California. She is now employed at the Rivera Hotel as a Status Board Operator. She attended Alcorn College for a short time. Mary Lee Walker attended community college for a short time in North Las Vegas. She received training from the teamsters union in medical insurance payment and disbursement and working with special adults at the Nevada State Vocational Services. For nearly 20 years, she has been a correctional officer for a Nevada state prison. She is planning retirement in two years where she is a supervisor at the women's prison camp. Jenny L. Hatcher, the youngest child, was the last Grambling graduate. She is a state social worker in Columbus, Mississippi. With all of her children spread out all over the country, Mrs. Hatcher spends a good part of her time traveling and visiting. Along with 15 children, she also has 63 grandchildren (although it could be more, she has trouble counting them all) and four great-grandchildren. "I travel a lot," she said. "I've got children in California, Illinois, Nevada, all over the United States, so I have to go and visit them. Most of my traveling is flying, I want to go and get there the same day." As stated before, the most important advice she has for her children and for everyone, is to put the Lord first in their lives and to love people and treat them as you would like to be treated. "Do what the Lord says and just obey Him," she said. "Forgive those that have misused you and don't complain. I hear people complain about everything, from the weather being too cold to it being too hot, to it raining too much or not raining enough. That's the Lord's business, I don't question that." "When people ask me how I'm doing, my friends already now what I'm going to say," she continued. "I always answer 'I won't complain' . . . and I don't. The Lord has been too good to me over the years to complain about anything." Even though she won't complain, she has had her share of trials during her life. In 1970, her husband of 34 years passed away, living her alone to raise the remaining 8 of her 15 children. "We always had been a praying family and the Lord has brought us through a many a things, from way back then and even today," Mrs. Hatcher said. "I just can't say enough about how good the Lord has been to me." This Sunday, Mrs. Hatcher will celebrate her 83 birthday. All fifteen of her children, most of her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren are expected to come back home to Jena for the celebration. As they each fly home, the Hatcher nest will be filled once again - only this time, it will be the children spreading their wings and embracing their mother for the impact she has had on their lives. A Godly mother and standing on Godly principles, will see her nest overflowing and her heart overjoyed as she is honored by her family. We join with them during this time to salute Mrs. Mary Hatcher as our Citizen Profile and wish her a very happy birthday.