Hazel Geneva Mitchell Draper

Hazel Geneva Draper had lived a full 101 years of life when she passed away on Friday, July 28, 2023, at Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge, NJ. Born at home in Brent, Alabama, Hazel spent 19 years working on her family’s farm with her parents P.L. (Lem) Mitchell and Mary Etter (Hobson) Mitchell and 6 siblings.

She graduated from Perry County High School in Marion, AL in 1940, and after attending business school in Montgomery, she worked for Alabama Dry Docks, a shipbuilding company during World War II. In 1944, Hazel decided to enlist in the U. S. Navy as a WAVE (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She took a train from Mobile, AL to the Bronx, NY and lived at the Collingwood Hotel in Manhattan. Here she worked as a WAVE sending secret coding to Washington, DC. Hazel met her husband, Howard Draper, who was a crew member on the USS North Carolina battleship when she was sent to a Naval base in Long Island City. She was discharged from the Navy in 1946. She and Howard started a family and lived in Bellerose, Long Island before moving to Alabama and then Wichita, KS where she lived for many years. During their time in Wichita, Hazel was a charter member of Ascension Lutheran Church. In 2009 Hazel moved to Basking Ridge, NJ to be closer to her daughter and some of her grandchildren.

Hazel’s love of sports was second only to her devotion to her family. Her love of basketball began when she was a member of her high school girls' basketball team as a guard. She was an avid University of Kansas basketball fan and University of Alabama football fan.

Hazel is predeceased by: her husband, Howard S. Draper, in 1986, and her son, Stanley M. Draper, in 2014; brothers: Austin Mitchell, Robert Mitchell, and Harold Mitchell; and sister, Beatrice M. Via.

Hazel is survived by: her daughter, Beverly Diane Qualey and her husband David; eight grandchildren: Laura (David), Pamela (Michael), Lynn (Michael), Jeremy, Christina (Chris), Melissa, Jennifer (Josh), Chelsea (Karl); and 22 great-grandchildren. Hazel is also survived by: her sister, Gladys Zepp; her brother, Perry Mitchell and his wife Adela; and many nieces and nephews.

There will be a visitation hour at noon on August 12th at Ascension Lutheran Church, Wichita, Kansas, followed by a 1pm service. Immediately following the service will be the interment, with Military Funeral Honors, at Resthaven Gardens of Memory, Garden of The Lord's Prayer, 11800 W. Kellogg, Wichita. A celebration of Hazel’s life will be held at Fellowship Village, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, this fall.

Memorial donations may be made in Hazel’s loving memory to Donate Now - Tunnel to Towers Foundation at https://t2t.org/donate/, 2361 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10306 or Wounded Warrior Project, PO BOX 758516 Topeka, KS 66675.