My background reads much like this country's history; it has evolved, from husbandman, farmer, wheelright, cabinetmaker, businessman to a profession.  I am the first person of my Hatcher line to graduate from college.  As a typical  young man I was thinking about travel and adventure and not about the future, there were several points at which I changed course,

I married Ellen Linsley, a UCLA graduate, who encouraged me to go to college. With the help of the GI Bill and my wife, I graduated from  Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine at Pullman, WA., in 1952;  was engaged in general veterinary practice in California for a number of years; became interested the in the work of Heifer Project International, Quaker Service and other non-profit agencies, assisting small farmers in many parts of the world.  We worked in Bolivia, Peru, Honduras and Cambodia in livestock development programs over the course of several years until 1985.  This work took me to many other countries where we had programs. These were interesting, rewarding times; and we were able to see positive results of these ongoing programs.
We have lived in California, Washington State, Arkansas and foreign countries. We now live in Berkeley, California.

My interest in genealogy I owe to Grandma Lydia. It wasn't until retirement that I gave it serious attention. The highlight of my family search was a visit to Northern Virginia, seeing some of the stone and log houses and barns of the first Hatchers beautifully maintained and still occupied.  Over the years considerable family information became available to me (no one else was interested). This I have compiled  in a book, "From Whence......" with copies for the immediate family.  This has been adapted to my web site,  Gordon's Ancestral Book 8 Greats-Plus.

Another hobby, has been the restoration of old houses, the ones we were living in.  Two of them were handsome, old Victorians, one in Whittier, the other in Nevada City, California that once were elegant; we enjoyed bringing them back. Various organizations used them to give tours as fund raisers for worthy causes.

We have two daughters, one grand daughter and one great granddaughter and one great grandson.