May 19, 1934 - November 21, 2021
A visitation is to be held from 10 AM to 11 AM, followed by a
service from 11 AM to 12 PM at Covenant
Presbyterian Church, 110 Bishop Rd, Cleveland, MS 38732
Wendy Dorothy
Burrage Hatcher was born in Leigh-on-Sea, a tiny fishing village outside
London, spending her childhood years along the seafront in her beloved boat,
Nonsense. She was evacuated to the English countryside for five years
during WWII, leaving home with only a small suitcase and a Mickey Mouse gas
mask. Her mother, Queenie, toiled in an aircraft war factory while her
father sent handwritten fairy tales from his various posts within the British
Army, including the infamous Battle of Dunkirk. In her teenage years, Wendy
hopped an early morning train into foggy London for her job as a newspaper
reporter at the Sunday Express on Fleet Street.
Wendy's life
would change forever during a holiday in Spain, where she met a dashing U.S.
Navy lieutenant by the name of John L (Jack) Hatcher. They married in
1954 and built a life in the Mississippi Delta, settling in the town of
Cleveland and raising four children: John Jr, Wendy Leigh, Glynis
and Bill.
In her
thirties, Wendy answered an inner calling to minister to those incarcerated at Parchman Prison Farm. This new phase of life carried
her through 30-plus years as the first female state chaplain in Mississippi
history. Thousands of inmates came to know her as "Maw," some
becoming an integral part of her life long past the "prison years."
Her adopted daughter, Pauline Rogers, established the Wendy Hatcher
Transitional Home in Jackson, giving hope and shelter to women transitioning
from prison to the "free world." Wendy spent her final months
of life in Pauline and husband Frederick's loving care.
Wendy was
preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Queenie Burrage, brother Ted
Burrage, and John Hatcher Sr. She leaves behind her children John
Hatcher, Jr (Lynn), Wendy Leigh, Glynis Malcolm (Doug), Bill Hatcher (Mitzi); grandchildren
Tiffany, Jessica (Andy), Kayte, Brantley (Rebecca), Read, Emily (Marcus) and
Kelly; and great grandchildren Anna, Hew, Alex, Tyler, Hadleigh, and Ella.
In lieu of
flowers, please consider sending a support donation to the Wendy Hatcher Transitional
House in Jackson, MS, in support of female prisoners re-entering society: rechfoundationms.org