On September 13th, 2021, William Murrel Hatcher, aged 86, went to be with his Lord & Savior in heaven, & reunited with his wife of 48 years, Mae T Hatcher, previously deceased.  William, affectionally known as 'Dub" to his parents & school friends (first syllable in 'W'}, or Dad for his boys, or PaPaw for grandchildren/great-grandchildren, & Bill to his many friends & extended family, was born in Pine Grove, MS on February 15th, 1935 to Alvis O Hatcher & Helene H Hatcher, both previously deceased, & also had a brother, Richard K 'Bud' Hatcher, previously deceased.

Bill attended elementary school at Pine Grove, & High School at Ripley, MS. Bill married Jessie Mae Tucker, who became Mae T Hatcher, & they had 2 sons, William Murrel Hatcher, Jr & David Byron Hatcher (Jeannie). Bill & his family settled in Frayser in 1960, & he moved the family to Fisherville in 1974. Bill was employed at Standard Construction upon arriving in Memphis, but Bill would soon be employed by DuPont for 33 years until his retirement in 1993.

Bill was a passionate patriot, & served his country in the US Army, stationed in Alaska, not yet a state, protecting the soon-to-be US coastline, while building & flying model airplanes, & leaving behind hundreds of slide photographs of the wild & untamed wilderness. Bill later attended Mid-South Bible College seminary school, becoming an assistant pastor at Northside Bible Church.

Bill was currently a member of Fisherville Baptist Church, & served on many missionary trips to the Navajo Arizona reservation, assisting in the construction & repairs of schools & churches, or driving the Church/School bus.  And he loved music, mostly gospel, & along with his wife, encouraged his children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren to pursue it - even great-grandchild Peyton recently received a guitar purchased by Dad.

Bill was involved in many sports & activities with his family, including regular camping, fishing & hunting trips, many to Cherokee Village in Hardy, AR.  He was also a Boy Scouts Webelo leader, co-founder of the Frayser Recreation Association - which provided little league baseball & basketball opportunities in Frayser, & coached both baseball & basketball teams for many years. Once his own sons were in High School, he took his love of science & engineering to the Junior Achievement league, assisting the young men with science & craft projects.

And Bill loved his grandkids, never missing any school events, like graduations, watching every ball game they played - sometimes running from 1 game to the next, always there to support & applaud at music recitals, & taking one of the first dances at each wedding along the way. He even picked up his great-grandson Peyton from his 1st day of Pre-School weeks ago.

Bill believed in hard work & doing your best at anything you do, & he instilled this not only in his family, but all the young men he mentored thru sports or science.  He believed whatever job you performed, do so taking pride in your work, leaving your signature on the job just like Rembrandt.  Up until a couple weeks before his death, Bill still cut his own grass at his farm in Macon, TN, took care of his rescue dog, Abbie, even had a cow he fed daily.

Bill will be missed by so many people that knew him, from extended family, his past co-workers, his daily breakfast friends, his church family, his mission friends - We all loved him, & will miss him greatly.

Bill is survived by both sons, 3 grandchildren - Jonathan (Patti), Christopher (Hollie) & Hannah (John Malcolm Pannell), & 2 great grandchildren, Peyton & Tucker (Hannah & John Malcolm), with another great-grandson on the way (Jonathan & Patti).

We love you Dad…