Roy Eugene Hatfield

Roy Eugene “Gene” Hatfield, 95, died March 5, 2026, at home in the company of his wife and daughter.

Roy was born August 6, 1930, in Springfield, Mo. to the late James Roy and Letty Sublett Hatfield. He grew up in Denning, Ark., with extended family in a house overlooking the Arkansas River Valley and Mt. Magazine, where he spent many hours climbing every tree on the hillside and sleeping under the stars during the summer. After his father died when Roy was 8, he was raised there by his grandparents James Ira and Stella Mae Hatfield.

He graduated from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville in 1952. On March 28, 1953, he married Maylene Morgan in Little Rock.

His career as a professional civil/structural engineer included almost 30 years in engineering management with the Department of the Air Force, involving assignments at Little Rock, Blytheville, Guam, the Azores and Panama. He was the Air Force representative for the Navy/Air Force rebuilding of Anderson AFB, Guam, after more than half the base was destroyed by Typhoon Karen. He managed the preliminary planning of the individual construction projects constituting that program. Later, he briefed a team from Attorney General Robert McNamara’s office, regarding base facilities, just prior to assignment of B-52 bombers to Anderson AFB in the Vietnam War.

Roy received the Meritorious Achievement Award as the outstanding civilian engineer in the U.S. Air Force, worldwide, in January 1970 in Washington D.C.

During processing of the Panama Canal Treaty in 1981, he arranged for the one-time use of Canal System Engineers to help design repair and modification projects to fulfill Air Force responsibilities in the treaty. Also in 1981, the Military Airlift Command adopted his recommendation for simplifying procurement of civilian architect-engineer design of projects.

His greatest enjoyment in life was time spent with his family and retirement with Maylene. He relished hiking with many family members, especially Gina, in the Ouachitas and Ozarks of Arkansas; multiple trips to Big Bend, the Grand Canyon, Colorado and Utah; and the highest peaks in New Mexico and Texas. A fresh start to almost every day in later retirement was waving a greeting to neighbors, usually in their autos going to work, during his brisk morning walks.

Roy is survived by his wife of nearly 73 years, Maylene Morgan Hatfield; daughter Gina Hendon and her husband Clay; cousins Vicky (Bill) Kiehl, Robin (Nick) Rylander and his late cousin’s wife Marilyn Hatfield; brothers- and sisters-in-law Larry and Mary Morgan, their children Greg Morgan and Lisa Graves and their families, and Lonnie and Dorothy Morgan, daughter Julie Gregory and her family. He was preceded in death by infant daughter Lisa Faye, cousin Don Hatfield, and brother-in-law Don Paul Morgan.

A family gathering will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to The Nature Conservancy.

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