Alma Hatch

Alma (Johnson) Hatch, of Westfield, Indiana, died December 6, 2024 at the age of 110.

She was born August 6, 1914, at the home of her parents, Benjamin and Mona Mouser Johnson, near Fairfield, Nebraska. For several years following her graduation from Fairfield High School she served as a Nebraska rural schoolteacher. During this time she also attended Hastings College and the Midwest Bible School in Gordon, Nebraska. Following her teaching career, she studied at the Nebraska College of Commerce in Hastings, Nebraska and was employed as a secretary/bookkeeper at the Fleet Foote Oil Company in that city.

On June 24, 1941, she was married to the Rev. Ralph V. Hatch in the Church of God, Glenvil, Nebraska, by the Rev. H. H. Kissinger. Following her marriage, she devoted her life to her home and family and to the churches which her husband pastored in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

In 1963 the family moved to Anderson, Indiana, where she resided until 2023. During this time, she was employed as a secretary at Church of God World Service, where her husband served as Field Director. She retired in 1979.

She loved music and crafts, and both she and her husband enjoyed camping and traveling, gathering family history and searching for their roots. They leave behind a wealth of genealogical information.

In Anderson, Alma was a long-time member of Park Place Church of God, Pathways Sunday School Class, Friends of Missions Circle, and had served as a Sunday School teacher and in the visitation ministry. For nearly twenty years, she was a resident of Harter House and served as the pianist for their weekly songfests. She moved to Sanders Glen Assisted Living in Westfield in 2023.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph V. Hatch in 1997; a son, Ralph Waldo Hatch in 1942; her parents; her four sisters, Ethel Christensen, Mabel Hakanson, Dorothy Knudson, and Doris Tazelaar; and her brother, B. Charles Johnson.

She is survived by her three children and their spouses: Roger D. Hatch and Joyce A. Baugh of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan; Kenneth E. Hatch and Millicent Hatch of Carmel, Indiana; Karen E. Chase and Duane B. Chase of Anchorage, Alaska; five grandsons: Benjamin Hatch, Micah Hatch (Lauren), and Caleb Hatch (Abigail), Mark Chase and Brett Chase (Kirsten); and four great grandchildren: Henry Hatch, Elliana Hatch, Theodore Hatch, and Elise Chase. She also is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

Flanner Buchanan – Carmel (325 E. Carmel Dr., Carmel, Indiana) is handling arrangements. Burial will be in East Maplewood Cemetery in Anderson, Indiana. A memorial service will be held at a later date.