Hazel Pollard

Dr. Pollard was born to Frederick Edward and Agnes Emma (Underwood) Batzer on April 29, 1914, in Bay County, Michigan.

She attended Central High School (February 1932) and Bay City Junior College (County Normal course), both Bay City, Michigan; Central Michigan College, Mt. Pleasant (BA); and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (MA and PhD 1956).

After completing Junior College, she taught at Chip Road country school (grades 1-8), Midland Junior High, and Remus High School, all in Michigan, before pursuing her advanced degrees. After receiving her PhD, she taught English at the University of Illinois, Champaign; Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa; University of South Dakota, Vermillion; Texas Women’s University, Denton; Virginia State College, Norfolk; and University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Hazel and her husband Dick founded and directed the doctoral English Renaissance Literature program at the University of Ottawa. She wrote “From Heroics to Sentimentalism: A Study of Thomas Otway’s Tragedies”, 1974. She and Dick also co-authored many scholarly publications, among them the book “From Human Sentience to Drama: Principles of Critical Analysis”, 1974.

Hazel and Dick retired from teaching and moved to Pensacola, Florida in 1975, where they enjoyed boating, gardening and writing together until his death. Her family has fond memories of beautifully handwritten cards and letters from Hazel throughout the years. She was very conscientious and remembered everyone’s birthday and anniversary with a personal note until only a few months before her death. She said that if she had to choose only limited books to read, her choices would be the Bible which she read many times, and her beloved Shakespeare. Her high school yearbook quote was “They are never alone that are accompanied by noble thoughts”.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Richard Neal Pollard, December 13, 1997; her parents; sister Agnes “Til” (Batzer) Malloy; brothers Carl Batzer, Russell and wife Nelda (Munsch) Batzer, Richard and wife LeNora (Tresemer) Batzer; brother-in-law Dr. Daniel Bradley; nephew Donald Batzer, and Martin, Jack and Wayne Johnstone; and grand-nephew William Walraven.

She is survived by her sisters Elaine (Batzer) Bradley, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Marian Saline (Batzer) Prast of Chandler, Arizona; brother Donald Edward and wife Mary (Fletcher) Batzer of West Yarmouth, Massachusetts; sister-in-laws Janice (Pollard) Temple and Patricia (Pollard) Hogue; 25 nieces and nephews; 34 grand-nieces and -nephews; and 30 great grand-nieces and –nephews living throughout the US, in Canada and France.

A memorial gathering will be held 3-5 PM Sunday, November 6, 2011, at her home in Chandler, Arizona. Private burial, with her beloved husband, will be at a later date in Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida, with family in attendance.