Frank Hatfield always an outgoing, likeable guy

Frank Hatfield lived life on the move, like the machines he loved to operate.

For most of his life, he worked as a pressman with newspapers in Napa, Calif., Tacoma, Yakima, and in Spokane with The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle. He retired from The Spokesman-Review in 1980 and moved to Athol in 2000. He died July 30.

Neighbor, friend and co-worker, John Bramer, of Post Falls, was an apprentice under Hatfield and worked with him in the 1950s and ‘60s. After working at several papers outside the area, Hatfield returned and they worked together again in Spokane.

Bramer said Hatfield was sharp when it came to running a typesetter and he could keep a room full of old-fashioned presses running like clockwork. He had a keen eye for detail and worked hard to get every letter just right.

“It’d drive an average person nuts,” Bramer said. “But he could move it like the time of day.”

They were also neighbors and shared memories of time spent as firefighters or working on pickups and machinery, he said.

Hatfield’s daughter, Susan Wachter, said he liked everything mechanical because it reminded him of his childhood. He was born in Spokane in 1918 and raised during the Depression, helping his family operate a coal delivery business. During their time off the family would travel to his uncle’s ranch and help with the equipment.

“He was always fixing and tinkering on things,” she said.

Hatfield went to the Edison Grade School in Spokane, and graduated from North Central High School, where he got his first experiences in printing. After high school he joined the Navy and served during World War II on an LST 932. When he returned home he met his future wife, Frances, on a blind date on Valentine’s Day in 1946. They married the following September.

They bought a house and he worked in real estate before starting his own moving business called Ace Transfer.

Hatfield sold the business after two years and moved to Hauser Lake, where he started his printing career with the Valley Herald as a pressman. He also served a term as mayor in Hauser Lake and pushed to build a new school, which is now John Brown Elementary, in nearby Rathdrum.

Wachter said he worked hard, but always made sure to play hard, too. Every year he made sure to take the family on a vacation and he’d always include her in the decision of where to go next.

One of her favorites was Hearst Castle in California, which she revisited this year with her kids. She now considers it one of the many things that brings her closer to her dad.

“He always thought a house is where you live and you should enjoy what you have, but … he had a good sense of how you should spend your money when you’re alive,” she said.

She said even during the Depression, his family would take time away from shoveling coal to see a movie and take the time to enjoy life.

After retirement, he continued to travel with Frances in their motor home.

But when he had his garage nearby, he put his hands to work on restoring a Model T. The truck was painted like an old Crystal Laundry truck. Hatfield joined a Model T club and often drove his restoration in parades.

Wachter said he kept the family close by staying on the move. With each new job or home, he remained an outgoing, likeable person and often became someone people turned to for advice.

“Wherever we moved to, wherever we lived, we always had neighbors and friends,” she said.