::: COMMUNITY NEWS

After he retired, Harvey Hatfield enjoyed traveling with his wife.

25-year RMA employee Harvey Hatfield dies at 70

Published Saturday, February 10, 2007

Harvey Hatfield started working in Rancho Murieta when it consisted of a golf course. By the time he retired 25 years later, it had become a community he had helped to shape through his labors.

"He was a great guy," said Rod Hart, manager of the Rancho Murieta Association Maintenance Department. "He was an equipment operator … For the most part, if you saw Harvey, he was on a tractor."

Mr. Hatfield died in Sacramento on Jan. 30. He was 70 years old. He retired from the Maintenance Department about eight years ago, according to Hart.

While Mr. Hatfield was at the RMA, the maintenance crew put together fishing charters almost monthly, "and a lot of that had to do with Harvey," recalled Hart. "He loved fishing. … He was the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet."

After he retired, Mr. Hatfield enjoyed traveling with his wife, Elinora Mae Hatfield, a retired school counselor. They camped and fished, and acquired a vacation time share.

The Hatfields were married 24 years, creating a blended family with their children from previous marriages. "They always had a houseful" of people at their home in Sacramento, Hart said.

In the last few years, emphysema took its toll on Mr. Hatfield. Several weeks before his death from the disease, he was still able to visit with friends, although "it was getting harder and harder for him," said Hart.

After his memorial service Feb. 7, Mr. Hatfield’s family, friends and former RMA colleagues gathered at the American Legion Hall in Sacramento for a potluck in his honor. "It was his favorite thing," said Hart. "Nora made her award-winning chili and everybody sat about and talked about old times."

Mr. Hatfield was a native of Shamrock, Okla. In addition to his wife, he is survived by children Keith Hatfield, Harvey Hatfield Jr., Vernon Corbus, Lee Corbus, Duane Corbus, Thurman Treece, Doyle Corbus, Alisha Meyers, and Philip Meyers, and siblings Mary Sumpter, Ruby Renfro, Carolyne Hilton, and Roy Dean Hatfield.