Fred Sloan Hatcher was born June 13, 1935 to G. I. Hatcher and Lola Sloan Hatcher on a farm near Bogue KS. Welcoming him were three older sisters. When Fred was in elementary School the family moved to a farm near Courtland Ks, then during the summer prior to his freshman year in High School they moved to a farm near Kirwin Kansas. While in high school Fred was passionate about playing basketball and was an outstanding player. Fred graduated from Kirwin High School in 1953. Shortly after graduation he and a buddy enlisted in the Army. Fred was assigned to Fort Bliss TX where he trained and attended electronics classes, then worked with missiles. He enjoyed working with electronics and decided that was what he wanted to do as a career. He had not planned to go to college but knew it was necessary if he wanted to continue that line of work.
After his honorable discharge from the Army, Fred enrolled at K-State University. He graduated In 1961 with an electrical engineering degree and started his career working for GDA on the Atlas Missile Systems. After working for GDA for a few years Fred was offered an opportunity to work for Boeing on the Apollo Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This work included working on the Saturn V rocket that took the first man to the moon. Fred then chose to go to Washington state where the Boeing Headquarters were located. He worked on various projects until his retirement. Eventually he and his wife returned home to Kansas.
Fred and Arliss Patterson were married December 23, 1956 during Fred's Freshman year at K-State. To this union two daughters and a son were born. Family and work were important to Fred. He also enjoyed watching all types of sports on TV as well as the national news. Bridge and especially duplicate bridge was also Fred's passion and he was a very skillful bridge player.
He was preceded in death by 2 sisters, Margie Hatcher and Artie Boyles; 2 sisters-in-law and 4 brothers-in-law.
Fred is survived by his wife Arliss Patterson Hatcher; daughters, Valerie Neisius (Greg) Beauford SC, and Carla Marrow (Donald) Bellevue WA, and son, Fred I Hatcher (Paula) Everett WA. ; seven grandchildren: Lyla Rose Lisin (Dmitri) Minneapolis MN, Lola Kathryn Canik (John) Oakridge TN, Matthew Hatcher (Felicia) Kirkland WA, Meaghan Hatcher – Everett WA, Michael Hatcher – Everett WA, Jeremy Marrow- Tacoma WA, Toya Marrow – Bellevue WA, and five great-grandchildren: Alex and Benjamin Lisin, Kathryn and Alice Canik and Paxton Hatcher . Fred is also survived by his sister, Harriet Boyles - Kearney NE, three brothers-in-law, three sisters-in-law and a number of nieces, great nieces, nephews, great nephews and cousins.

Cremation was chosen. A private family service will be held at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Phillips County Hospital Foundation in care of the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, P.O. Box 563, Phillipsburg, KS 67661.