PEARL OTTO HATLEY, SR. was principal at Hodges Oak
Park Elementary School in the mid-30's & was Ranger
High School principal in 1941 at Ranger, TX. He
married Youree Cereta Long & they had three children,
two daughters, Martha Francine Hatley McCauley
(RHS-1940), & Laura Jane Hatley Rogers and her husband
Tom Ralph Rogers of Georgetown and one son, P.O. Hatley
Jr. & his wife Mary Faith Hatley of Longview. Laura
and Ralph were both born in Ranger.
SON: P.O. HATLEY, JR., a longtime resident of Longview,
TX died in June of 2012, with burial at Rosewood Park
in Longview, TX.
P.O. was born Dec. 29, 1930, in Ranger, TX, to P.O.
Hatley Sr. & Youree Long Hatley, and passed away on
June 10, 2012, in a local hospital after an extended
illness.
P.O. graduated from Rusk High School, attended Lon
Morris Jr. College and then received both a BS & MS
in Agriculture from Sam Houston State University in
Huntsville, TX. After college, he joined the U.S.
Navy where he attended Officer Candidate School. He
then served as Gunnery Officer aboard the U.S.S.
Rendezvous during the Korean War. He loved the Navy
dearly and served as the Commanding Officer of the
Tyler, TX, active reserve unit, retiring as a Captain
after 30 years of service.
He was a 30-year employee of the Social Security
Administration, having worked in McAllen, Texas, and
Lawton, OK, before spending 28 years in the Longview
office. Being not only a U.S. government employee for
many years, he was also a longtime landowner & cattleman
in Gregg, Cherokee and Smith counties. He was a member
of the Naval Retirees Association, the Texas Cattleman's
Association and the Texas Forestry Association. His love
for the Longview Lobo football team is indescribable.
He was a season-ticket holder and had not missed a Lobo
game, including playoff games, for over 40 years.
Preceding him in death were his parents; and sister,
Francine Hatley McCauley (RHS-1940).
Left to cherish his memory is his wife of nearly 52 years,
Mary Faith Stoddard Hatley of Longview. Also surviving are
his sons, Dr. Richard Hatley and his wife, Deborah, of Paris,
TX, Randall Hatley of Longview and Ronald Hatley and his
wife, Valerie, of Austin, TX. He also leaves behind two
grandchildren, Jonathan and Madeleine Hatley of Paris;
a brother-in-law, F.G. Stoddard of Bonham, TX; a sister
and brother-in-law, Jane Hatley & Tom Rogers of Georgetown,
TX; along with several nephews, nieces, great-nephews,
great-nieces and a host of cousins.
DAUGHTER: LAURA JANE HATLEY ROGERS passed away
peacefully, just 12 days shy of her 90th birthday, on
May 17, 2022, with family by her side, with burial in
Dublin, TX.
Jane was born in Ranger, TX, on May 29, 1932, to Pearl
Otto & Youree Cereta (Long) Hatley. She graduated
valedictorian from Rusk (Texas) High School in 1949
and attended Texas State College for Women, where she
earned an MA in Music Education in 1953. Jane then
moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, starting a career as
band and choir director and English teacher at the
newly opened Hamlin Junior High School. In Corpus
Christi, she was an active member of First United
Methodist Church where she joined the choir and a
young adults Sunday School class. Through those groups,
she met many of her fondest friends, as well as Tom
Rogers, whom she would marry in that same church in
July of 1959. Jane took a break from teaching when
the first of her five children was born in 1961 and
became a full-time mother to Lauralynn, Ralph, Tom,
Charles, and Carolyn Jane Rogers. She returned to
school in the late 1970s, earning an MA in Counseling
from Corpus Christi State University, after which she
worked as a teacher and later a school counselor. In
1983, Jane and Tom began a new adventure, following
his career first to Wadsworth, OH, and later to Harrison
City, PA, before returning to Texas in 1997 to begin
an active retired life in Georgetown. In her retirement,
she continued her lifelong hobbies which included sewing
clothes, singing in the church choir, playing the trombone,
piano, & handbells, needlework, cactus gardening, reading,
watching football, and volunteering through church, schools,
and the Democratic Party. Her passions for all these
hobbies continue through to her children & grandchildren.
Jane's strength and independence made her an inspiration
to all, but especially to her daughters and granddaughters.
As a single career woman in her 20s, Jane was already a
homeowner. She bought a '54 Chevy, which several of her
children learned to drive decades later. Jane survived
the Ozona flood of 1954, four major hurricanes, bitter
winters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, scorching Texas summers,
a pandemic, & the unprecedented 2021 Central Texas winter
storm. She will be remembered for her dedication to her
community, the value she placed on education, her pragmatism,
candor, intelligence, sharp wit, love of cats, appreciation
for music, and sense of humor.
Jane was preceded in death by her parents, Youree Cereta
Long Hatley and P.O. Hatley, Sr., & her siblings, Francine
Hatley McCauley and P.O. Hatley, Jr.
She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Thomas
R. Rogers, and her children and their significant others:
Lauralynn Rogers Mayfield (Ron) of Pearland, TX; Ralph
Rogers (Mary) of Corpus Christi, TX; Thomas J. Rogers
(Lori Custer) of Greensboro, NC; Charles Rogers (Alison)
of Houston, TX; and Carolyn Rogers Beck (David) of Austin,
TX. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Samuel, Sean
and Laura Janelle Mayfield; Kate and Madeline Johnston;
Jordan Rogers (Simone Pitre) and Jonathan Rogers; Emily
and Blake Rogers; and Tabitha Jane Beck.