Richard F. Hatch

He was an artist, poet, comedian, kind, warm, loving, a big man with a big heart. Words in quotes are from a journal Richard kept. “The things I’ve seen and done.”

“Release me, let me fly under the wings of the angels.”

He grew up in Chatham Township, NJ with his five siblings, Jim, Bob, Frank, Candy & Mary, spending summers at his grandparents’ cabin on Cape Cod since he was 2 years old. He enjoyed swimming and being outdoors.

“Stars so bright from the top of the Rockies, you feel like you can pick them like grapes. Rainbows of all colors & brilliance. Mountain lakes as green & blue as the Caribbean Sea. Water so clear you can see the hair on your toes. Waterfalls great & small, clear streams abound with rocks which seem to sing. California white pines & redwoods, Florida palms and blue spruce, birch & willow. Mountain air, as clear as pure rain. Thunderstorms loud, dark nights, snowstorms with rage, blinding white wind that seems to shout. Sunsets from the Gulf coast to the Rockies, Key West to Bar Harbor.”

Richard started playing football at an early age, played for his high school, and then at Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ, where he met his future wife, Lynn, on the first official day of college during orientation in 1970. They married November 9. 1975.

“I may not make it to heaven, but today I walk with an angel that makes me the luckiest man alive. You are the joy of my life.”

He also loved baseball. His father took him to Yankee Stadium at a young age and he was hooked. He saw many games & famous players throughout the years & instilled his love of the sport and the Yankees into others.

“Yogi Berra had a quote for every occasion and a heart of gold.”

He loved art & became a “prolific” oil painter. Though some have been hung at home, most have been given away to family, friends & many others who visited or came to the house as painters, plumbers, etc.

He had many lifelong friends, mostly from high school. Back then he was known as Dick, or Rickie, or Big Ricky, or Rich. But when we moved to Cape Cod in 2010, he wanted to be called Richard. He loved children, especially as guardian to his sister Mary, Godchildren, Joanie, Katie & Robert, nephews Chris, Tom, Paul & Casey and nieces Kim & Kelly, and countless other children of friends & neighbors over the years.

He is survived by his wife Lynn Hatch of E. Harwich, MA, siblings Jim (Roberta) Hatch of Midlothian, VA, Bob (Shirley) Hatch of Sebastian, FL, and Mary Hatch of Wheat Ridge, CO. Predeceased by brother Frank and sister Candy.

“Even when I go, I will take you with me. When I’m gone, you’ll always be with me, by my side or in my being.”

A celebration of life TBD. In lieu of flowers please donate to your church or to your favorite charity.