ANGIE ''MAMA'' HATTON JUL 30, 1902 - MAY 12, 2011 Angie Hatton (Mama) was the fourth child born to Hiram and Eliza Morris Gates on July 30, 1902 in Columbia, Mississippi and was greeted by her Heavenly Father at the gates of Heaven on May 12, 2011 from her home in Modesto, California at age 108. She lived a long, healthy, and bountiful life. Angie married Wiggins Emmett Hatton on April 6, 1918 in Sumrall, Mississippi and started her family in February, 1919. She and Emmett bore eleven children together. In 1948, Angie joined her husband in California where he had established a home for her. She rode the train five days across the country with her children and resided in her Modesto home thereafter. Mama was a true Southern woman who modeled her Southern virtues daily to her children and grandchildren. She was kind, sincere, and mischievous with a sparkle in her eyes. She respected everyone and found the best in others. She gave the best of what she had to those in need. She worked without complaining making sure her family was well fed, clean, clothed, and behaving. She always put others before her. She never ceased praying for her family or thanking God for His provisions. She was a humble woman in the eyes of all. She was a woman that her family and friends openly adored and admired. Mama was known by many names; Mama, Mom, the Madam, Ms. Hatton, Grandma, Aunt Angie, Sugar, Grandma Great and Granny. In 2004 she was the Modesto Bee ''Pom Queen'' noted for her pomegranate jelly and in 2011 she was recorded as the ''Oldest Woman in Stanislaus County''. She spoiled us all with her homemade biscuits, her delicious fruit cobblers, jams and jellies, and down home southern cookin' with black eyed peas, corn bread, mustard greens, turnips, creamed corn, and most of all sweet potatoes and sweet tea. A cake was always on the cake plate. Mama was preceded in death by her husband, Emmert, her sons Jerry Edward Hatton, Toxie Hatton and her daughter-in-law Merle Hatton, her daughters Mary Lillian (Lil) Hatton and Ruth Evelyn (Kitten) Huston, and her sons-in-law Ray Huston, Jack Adams, and Bill Hampton. She is survived by her sons Ralph (Ed) Hatton and his wife, Darlene, Don Hatton, Louie Hatton, and her daughters Grace Geneva (Chris) Olson, Carrie Adams, and Barbara Hampton. She has 20-grandchildren and their spouses, 32 great-grandchildren and their spouses, and 10 great-great-grandchildren. She was deeply cherished by all and will be greatly missed. A visitation will be held from 4:00 to 8:00 PM Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at Salas Bros. Funeral Chapel with a funeral service to follow on Thursday, May 19th at 1:00 PM. Burial will follow the service at Lakewood Cemetery.
Published in the Modesto Bee, Modesto, CA on 5/17/2011.