Harry U. Hatcher

Harry Udell Hatcher, eighty-eight, peacefully passed away on Friday, March 15, at his home in Columbus, Mississippi. A funeral service will be held Tuesday March 19, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Robert Gillis officiating, burial with U.S. Air Force Honors will follow at Friendship Cemetery. Visitation will be held Tuesday one hour prior to service at the funeral home. Mr. Hatcher was born September 8, 1935, to Samuel Hatcher and Annie Kate White Hatcher. Mr. Hatcher was a member of the Columbus Air Force Base Chapel, where he attended for thirty-three years. He also served the church’s annual retreat to Lake Forest Retreat Center, playing Gospel music for over the course of thirty years. Music was a long-time hobby of Mr. Hatcher. One of his last performances was “Amazing Grace,” sung on his acoustic guitar at a Saturday night meeting at his son Lee’s family home, providing a worshipful moment for a gathering of Christians. He retired from the U.S. Air Force after twenty-two years of service. He was a Life Member of the Disabled American Veterans. Mr. Hatcher was married to his childhood sweetheart, Rommay Faye Hatcher, for nearly sixty-eight years, until her passing in 2022. They were wed on November 8, 1954, shortly after he entered the Air Force. They lived in many places over his two-decades-plus season of military service—Guam was among the most memorable locations they called “home” before finally retiring in Columbus so that they could be near family and friends, which Mr. and Mrs. Hatcher considered to be a priority. Until 2020, they opened their home on Thanksgiving and Christmas for their family to gather and share a holiday meal, providing an array of relatives—and occasionally, friends—a chance to pause, connect, and create memories. Mr. Hatcher is survived by his four children, Dell, Debbie, Steve (Mitzi), and Lee (Lenora), and several dear friends and family members, including cousins, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. After coming to the Lord, Mr. Hatcher expressed a deep gratefulness to God for saving him. Mr. Hatcher was also a regular student of the Word through watching sermons, reading faith-based books, interacting with local believers, and encouraging others to believe in the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ