NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1981 SESSION

RESOLUTION 1981-15

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 576

A JOINT RESOLUTION HONORING THE LIFE AND MEMORY OF WILLIAM THOMAS HATCH, FORMER MEMBER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Whereas, William Thomas Hatch was born on April 1, 1905 in the Millbrook section of Wake County, North Carolina and died on July 17, 1979; and

Whereas, he was educated at Wake Forest College where he earned both a baccalaureate and a law degree; and

Whereas, he served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1936 to 1949 serving at various times as Chairman of the Higher Education, Library, Corporations, Judiciary, and Roads Committees; and

Whereas, the establishment of the North Carolina Art Museum owes much to the effort of this man. In 1947, after the Kress family offered the State an invaluable art collection if the State would appropriate funds for a museum, William Thomas Hatch, in the face of strong opposition, fought for the appropriation of one million dollars ($1,000,000) which was passed in 1949 and the resulting museum is nationally acclaimed and a source of pride to all North Carolinians; and

Whereas, during the last 30 years of his life, William Thomas Hatch served the public with distinction as a Special Judge of the North Carolina Superior Court, as President of the Wake County Bar Association, and as Chairman of the Wake County Democratic Executive Committee, and the Wake County Board of Elections; and

Whereas, he also served as a director of the Oxford Orphanage and of the Sudan Temple in New Bern, as Judge Advocate of the Grand Lodge, as a member of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Executives Club, as a President of the North Raleigh Lions Club, as a trustee and lay leader of the Millbrook United Methodist Church; and

Whereas, at the time of his death, Judge Hatch was a senior partner of the law firm of Hatch, Little, Bunn, Jones, Few, Berry, Permar and McClain;

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

Section 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina honors the life and service of its former member, William Thomas Hatch, and expresses its gratitude for his service to the people of North Carolina.

Sec. 2. The General Assembly of North Carolina expresses its deepest sympathy to the family of William Thomas Hatch for the loss of this distinguished citizen.

Sec. 3. The Secretary of State shall transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the family of William Thomas Hatch.

Sec. 4. This resolution is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 7th day of April, 1981.