Hazel Hammonds

Hazel O. Hammonds, age 94, of Roswell passed away Tuesday April 18, 2017. A memorial service is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Monday, April 24, 2017 at the First United Methodist Church of Roswell. She will be cremated and interred with her husband Arthur at South Park Cemetery at a later date. They were married for 68 years.
Hazel O. Hammonds was born October 26, 1922, in Roswell, NM, on the Tweedy Farm just south of Roswell to Oscar and Jannetta Welcher. Oscar, Jannetta and their young son Frank, had travelled to Roswell from Paul's Valley, Oklahoma, specifically for Oscar's new job, and Hazel was born in Roswell shortly thereafter. Oscar became ill and the family returned to Paul's Valley where he died when Hazel was 2 years old. She had no memories of him and lifelong suffered that. A serendipity part of the story is that Hazel and her husband would settle in Roswell and raise their two sons 20 years later, the place of her birth.
Hazel and her husband, Art, met in San Diego, CA, while Art was living in an apartment above a gas station, and the owner of the gas station/apartment had a niece coming from Oklahoma with her friend, Hazel. When they arrived, Art got kicked out and the two young women took over the apartment! A romance started from this encounter. Hazel loved roller skating with Art and long summer days in Balboa Park during their courtship. He was the love of her life and thought him "so handsome." They married August 8, 1942, in Yuma, AZ, and returned to San Diego as husband and wife. Shortly thereafter Art joined the navy and his ship took him overseas during the years of World War II. In his absence, Hazel was a telephone operator in the San Diego area. The love letters exchanged by this pair still emit their young romance and the yearning for each other caused by the war. They were quite the pair, young and in love, and their future bright with promise.
After the war they relocated to Tahoka, TX, and eventually Roswell, NM, where they set up shop for the rest of their lives, raised their two boys, Mike and Ken, and it is here they both passed away.
Mom, as her sons know her, is lovingly cherished. She was "our amazing woman," the one who nurtured us, raised us, instilled the uncommon values in us she cherished, and then she did the same with her 5 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. She is survived by her two sons: Michael Thomas Hammonds of Concord, MA, and his wife Janet; and Kenton Arthur Hammonds of Roswell, NM, and his wife Chiquita. Her grandchildren, all surviving her, are Mikala Hammonds of Northhampton, MA; Amber Hammonds Pinnow of Fruita, CO; Brandon Lee Hammonds of Kansas City, MO; Bryant Arthur Hammonds of Seattle, WA; and Kathryn Elizabeth Hammonds of Seattle, WA. The admired great grandchildren are Julian Michael Lentini, Henry Jacob Attias, Wesley Isaac Newton, Emma Eleanora Pinnow, and Kohen Arthur Hammonds.
Hazel's entire family expresses their heartfelt respect and appreciation to both the awesome staff and residents of PeachTree Village. What a wonderful community of loving people you are! Additionally, Mom's caregivers were angelic in her time of need. Thank you Julie Adams.

Service