FANNIE ADELE SWANEY HATTEN, 68, was the daughter
of longtime Ranger residents, Mary Francis Murray
& Willard Ratcliffe Swaney who owned and operated
Swaney's Pharmacy. She was born on August 16,
1923, and graduated from Ranger High School with
the Class of 1940. She was married to Frank Hatten
and they were living in Waco when she died on
February 3, 1992. They had three children. She
had a brother, Willard R., Jr. (RHS-1950) who
lives in DeSoto, TX.
HUSBAND: FRANK HATTEN passed away Oct. 1, 2011.
Interment was at Evergreen Cemetery in Ranger, TX.
Frank was born in Dalhart, TX, in 1916. Son of
Ed and Gulielma (Boon) Hatten, he grew up on a farm
near Eastland, TX. In 1944, he married Fannie
Adele Swaney (RHS-1940) of Ranger, TX, after
completing pilot training at Douglas A.F.B. in
Arizona. As a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army
Air Force, Frank completed 15 missions piloting
a B-17 over Germany. On his 16th mission, he was
flying in the copilot's seat, being checked out
for a group lead position by Col. Robert Clay,
when their plane suffered engine failure and flak
on a bombing mission to Berlin. Eight crew members
bailed out safely, but Lt. Hatten remained with
Capt. Clay to help him crash-land the plane in a
field on the island of Als in southern Denmark.
Although the plane broke in two, Hatten and Clay
miraculously survived. The entire crew was captured
and survived nearly a year in German prison camps.
The officers endured a two-day forced march in
winter from a camp Sagan (in Prussian Germany) to
a railhead for transport to Moosberg (near Munich),
where elements of General Patton's command success-
fully liberated the camp in 1945.
Continuing as an officer in the USAF, Capt. Hatten
earned a Bachelor's in Business Administration from
the University of Texas at Austin. Lt. Col. Hatten
led one of the first squadrons of C-130s in Oklahoma
(1958-60), Okinawa (1960-61), and South Carolina
(1961-64). Further stations included Langley A.F.B.
in Virginia (1964-65), Headquarters 12th Air Force
in Waco (1965-68), and Dyess A.F.B. in Abilene (1968),
where he returned to flying for a brief stint during
the Vietnam War. He retired from the Air Force in
Waco in 1968.
A member of First United Methodist Church of Waco,
he also served as President of the Heart-of-Texas
Lions Club. With his beloved wife, Dell, he attended
an international gathering of the Lions Club in New
Orleans, and made many trips to visit family. For
many years after her death in 1992, he traveled to
351st Bomb Group reunions and Prisoner of War reunions,
and he attended the dedication of the WW II memorial in
Washington, D.C. Especially memorable were reunions at
his WW II airbase at Polebrook, England, and a state
ceremony at the field in Denmark where his plane crashed,
during which he and three other surviving crew members
(including Capt. Clay) were presented official decorations
as honorary members of the Danish Defense Brotherhood. A
memorial has since been erected at the site. He also
traveled to Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Italy,
and Israel with his son for music conferences, where he
was always popular among the participants. He was beloved
by family and friends for his deep love, his eternal
optimism, his generosity, his humor, his passion for
golf, and his joy in living.
He leaves behind one brother, Ray Hatten (Cisco); two
daughters, Frances Ann Monken (Austin) and Patricia Jane
Terrell (Lucas); one son, Robert Swaney Hatten (Austin);
two grandchildren, Janet Pilkington and Karen Monken;
and two great-grandchildren, Brittany and Alex Pilkington.
He is also survived by many nieces and nephews and their
families.
FATHER: WILLARD SWANEY, 75, died on May 9, 1974, in Dallas
following a short illness. Burial was in Evergreen Cemetery.
Mr. Swaney was born Aug. 15, 1898, in Clayton, IL, and married
Mary Murray in June of 1922, in Coleman. A resident of Ranger
for 50 years, he was owner-pharmacist of Swaney Pharmacy for 45
years, retiring in October 1970. The couple moved to Waco in 1973
but continued to maintain their home at 809 Cherry St. in Ranger.
Mr. Swaney was a member of Ranger's First United Methodist Church,
Masonic Lodge and Rotary Club. He was a past member of the board
of directors of First Federal Savings and Loan Association of
Ranger and pharmacy consultant for Ranger General Hospital.
Survivors at the time of his death are his wife; one son, Willard
Jr. of Dallas; one daughter, Mrs. Frank Hatten of Waco; a sister,
Mrs. I.D. (Eva) Divine of Stratford; six grandchildren, Mrs.
Marvin H. Monken, Jr., Patricia Jane Hatten, Robert Swaney Hatten,
Willard Swaney III, Matthew Ellis Swaney and Colin Andrew Swaney;
one grand-grandchild, Janet Monken.
MOTHER: MARY FRANCIS SWANEY, 89, died May 14, 1989, in Waco,
TX with burial in Evergreen Cemetery at Ranger, TX. Born in
Coleman, she moved from Clovis, NM, to Ranger in 1925. She
and her late husband, Willard R. Swaney, owned and operated
the Swaney Pharmacy in Ranger.