header 1
header 2
header 3

In Memory

Mary Geraldine Hatt - Class Of 1928 VIEW PROFILE

Mary Geraldine Hatt

            

Mary Geraldine Hatt

Sep. 26, 1911 - Aug. 12, 2007

SOUTH BEND - Miss Mary Geraldine Hatt, 95, a lifetime resident of South Bend and the only daughter of James J. and Effie Shepley Hatt, died August 12th at the Holy Cross Health & Rehab Center.

Her father, who at one time was the South Bend Chief of Police, was employed by the railroad for many years. Her mother was a homemaker and an artist whose oil paintings are part of the collection at the Indiana Center for History.

She was preceded in death by her parents and by her brother, James Jr.

She is survived by her cousins, Ruth Straughn (Max) of Mishawaka and Corrine O'Leary (Joseph) of San Diego, CA.

Miss Hatt had an adventurous spirit from an early age and in childhood enjoyed many rail trips with her family visiting relatives in Canada, California, The Dakotas and Washington.

Miss Hatt attended local schools, graduating from South Bend High School in 1928. She received a B.A. in history from Indiana University, Bloomington, and an M.A. in international relations from Clark University, Wooster, MA, which she attended on a scholarship. She was a member of Sigma Kappa. She also studied at Harvard and UCLA.

Miss Hatt began her career teaching briefly at Madison and Jefferson Elementary Schools and taught history at Central High School. When LaSalle High School opened in 1965 she became head of the Social Studies Department, the first woman to have that position. She retired from LaSalle in 1976.

Miss Hatt spent her summers in interesting pursuits. For several years in the 1930s she spent her vacations driving Studebakers to the West Coast for a local dealer. In 1937 she took a vacation with friends on a freighter transporting gypsum from Nova Scotia to Wales.

In 1944 Miss Hatt took a leave of absence and joined the Hospital Service of the American Red Cross, European Theater of Operations, helping to staff field hospitals for American troops in Italy.

Miss Hatt received the first sabbatical granted by the South Bend Community School Corporation and she used it to travel extensively in the then USSR, India and the Middle East, spending a semester at the American University of Hong Kong.

In 1953 Miss Hatt was awarded the first Fulbright grant from South Africa, then under the rule of apartheid, and she spent a year there as a lecturer in teacher training colleges.

A teacher exchange program took her to Honolulu for a year and began a deep appreciation of Hawaii. After her retirement she spent the winters there for over 25 years.

Miss Hatt enjoyed traveling in the United States and Canada, and she put many miles on her 1971 Mustang. When she gave up driving in the 1990s she donated her car to Camp Millhouse for a charity auction. She also traveled to Antarctica, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe and Asia. She made her first trip to China in 1978 as part of a University of Arizona project. She later made numerous return visits to China as a travel escort for First Source Travel. Her travels took her around the globe several times. She once tried to list the number of countries she had visited and quit counting after reaching 150. Perhaps her most interesting travel experience was a trip to Afghanistan where she popped corn over an open fire in front of the yurt where she would camp for the night.

During some summers and after her retirement Miss Hatt was a volunteer with Project Concern, an American medical organization serving areas with limited medical facilities. In Hong Kong she helped refugees and boat people who fled from China as well as with Project Concern in Bali, Ethiopia and Guatemala. In the United States she helped staff clinics in New Mexico and Appalachia. In Honolulu she volunteered with VIVA, a group organized to help refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. She also volunteered with the Holt Christian Services, meeting children at the Honolulu International Airport, helping to clear Korean babies through immigration.

Miss Hatt was a member of Sigma Kappa, Phi Lambda Theta (educational honorary), St. Joseph County Retired Teachers Association, National Education Association, Indiana State Teachers Association, the former South Bend Women's College Club, American Association of University Women, Progress Club, Southhold Restoration, Pan Hellenic, and UNA-USA United Nations of St. Joseph County. She was a board member of the Northern Indiana Center for History and a lifetime member of Faith United Methodist Church.

Miss Hatt had a keen interest in world affairs and she made her classes interesting to her students, inspiring many to become teachers. In addition to traveling, Miss Hatt enjoyed reading and visiting with her many friends.

Memorials for Miss Hatt may be made to Project Concern, 151 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 320, San Diego, CA 92123; to The Literacy Council of St. Joseph County, 225 West Colfax Avenue, South Bend, IN 46613; or to Faith United Methodist Church, 802 E. Ewing, South Bend, IN 46613.

Cremation has taken place, and following Miss Halt's request her remains will be scattered at sea.

A memorial service for Miss Hatt will be held Saturday, August 18, at 11 a.m. in Faith United Methodist Church.

The Welsheimer Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Published in the South Bend Tribune on August 16, 2007.

 

02/07/2022 DEC

South Bend Tribune



Click here to see Mary Geraldine's last Profile entry.