Page 28 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2022 - Online Magazine

Jessie Carlton Hatchett
few of the adjectives
people use to describe
A Jessie Hatchett
are humble, trustworthy,
dependable, solid, steadfast,
respected, and beloved. To the
people who are lucky enough to
know him, he is a treasure.
Carlton Hatchett, as he is known
to his family, is one of seven
brothers and three sisters born
to Lester and Fannie Hatchett.
He was born in Lubbock in 1931
and grew up in the country
“south of town.” Actually, it
was in the vicinity of 50th and
Elgin Ave. “34th Street was still
a caliche road. To our north was
a cotton field; east of Elgin was
grain sorghum; and the rest was
surrounded by the Leftwich
pasture.” Carlton graduated from
Lubbock High School in 1950 and
attended Texas Technological
College for three years before
being drafted into the Army in
1953.
28 Lubbock Senior Link
“Everyone Loves Him”
by Jane Bromley
He completed boot camp at Fort
Leonard Wood, Missouri. His
dad served in WWI, brother
Edwin in WWII, and younger
brother Jimmy in Korea and
Vietnam. After a short leave,
Pvt. Hatchett was sent straight
to Japan and then to Pusan,
Korea where he served with the
616th Engineer Battalion. The
treaty ending the “conflict” had
been signed in July 1953, and
he didn't arrive until November
of ’53. (The United States and
South Korea are allies under the
Mutual Defense Treaty. Under
the agreement, U.S. military
personnel have maintained a
continuous presence on the
Korean peninsula.) By the time
Hatchett landed, most of the
fighting was over, although
skirmishes continued.
At Pusan, he received six
weeks of Chemical, Biological,
Radiological (CBR) training and
served in equipment supply.
Except for a couple of TDYs in
Inchon and Seoul, he spent the
whole 13 months at Pusan. After
two years of active duty and
six years in the Army Reserve,
Corp. Hatchett was honorably
discharged in 1961. While in the
reserves, he finished Texas Tech
with a BS in Agriculture and
accepted a job with the USDA
in 1957 as an inspector. (At that
time, cotton farmers in the area
were dealing with the pink
bollworm.)
He married a girl he’d met at
Central Baptist Church, located
on 18th and Ave N, in Lubbock.
In 1969, he was transferred to
Harlingen where farmers were
battling the Mediterranean fruit
fly. He and Rosemary had two
daughters, Carla and Pamela.
The family returned to Lubbock
in 1972 when Carlton was named
District Director over 25 counties.
That was when the USDA was
deeply involved in Boll Weevil
Eradication. Three years later,
he was transferred to
Houston as Assistant
District Director. He
retired from the USDA
in April 1997 after an
exemplary career of 40
years.
In the meantime, as
sometimes happens,
his marriage ended.
But a Lubbock High
School reunion
reacquainted him
with an old friend
he had known most of his
life, Wynelle Beasley. He had
practically grown up with her,
although they had lost track of
each other. After a long-distance
relationship, Carlton and
Wynelle married in March 1988.
They returned to Lubbock in 1997
to take care of Wynelle’s mother