September 16, 2004

OBITUARIES

Robert Dingle Hammond

Robert Dingle Hammond of Yellow Springs died on Saturday, Sept. 11, at Community Hospital in Springfield. He was 78.

Born on June 12, 1926, in Tiffin, he was the son of Olive (Dingle) Hammond and William Archie “W.A.” Hammond. The family soon after moved to Yellow Springs where his father started the W.A. Hammond Drierite Company. Robert attended school in Yellow Springs through the 11th grade and graduated from Upper Arlington High School in Columbus in 1944.

He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1944 and was stationed as an Air Cadet at Shepard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas, and Keesler Field in Biloxi, Miss., until his honorable discharge in November 1945.

He attended Ohio State University, where he received a bachelor of science degree in animal husbandry and general agriculture in 1950. He returned to Yellow Springs in 1950 and spent the next 50 years managing the family farm, Hydebrook Farm, and raising Aberdeen Angus cattle. In 1981 he received the Little Miami Incorporated’s first Stewardship Award for conservation-minded farming practices that protected the Little Miami River.

He was a member of the American Legion, the Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity, a past president of the Greene County Cattle Feeders’ Association and the Springfield Flying Club. He was a licensed commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and at one time owned his own plane and maintained a runway on the farm.

In addition to his lifelong love of farming, he was a devoted family man who cherished his wife, three sons, two daughters-in-law and four granddaughters. In his later years, he spent countless hours watching his granddaughters play and reading to them. His other passions included OSU football, raising horses, Dixieland jazz, restoring old gas engines and fixing anything that needed fixing.

Robert is survived by his wife, Helen May (Pitman) Hammond; two sons, John Robert Hammond and Scott Alan Hammond (his third son, William Alexander Hammond, died in 1989); two daughters-in-law, Karen Briana (Vennerholm) Hammond and Michelle Renee (Bocock) Hammond; four granddaughters, Megan Alexandra, Emily Faye, Rachel Katherine and Molly May Hammond; and his brother, John Philip Hammond.

A private graveside service will be held this week. A public memorial service is planned for Saturday, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m., at the Faith Community United Methodist Church in Xenia. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Friends Care Community or the National Kidney Foundation.

Wilma ‘Billie’ Singer Hotaling

Wilma “Billie” Singer Hotaling died peacefully, surrounded by her family, on Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Island Nursing Home in Deer Isle, Maine. She was 79.

Born in New York City in 1925, she was the daughter of Maurice and Paula Singer. Billie grew up in Flushing, Queens, attended Wheelock College in Boston and received her bachelor of science degree in education in 1945. She married Dan Hotaling in 1949 and taught first grade at the Dalton School in New York for six years. For many summers she was a counselor and nurse at Camp Killooleet and Camp Winooski in Vermont.

In 1958 Billie moved to Yellow Springs, where she and Dan raised four children. She taught at the Antioch School, directed a Greene County Children’s Mental Health Program, researched child behavior at the Fels Institute and trained Head Start teachers.

Her life was filled with many creative activities, including writing (two published children’s books and many poems), watercolor painting, music, knitting, cooking and leading workshops. A special highlight was her active participation in the Yellow Springs and Deer Isle Writers Groups, as well as the Deer Isle Artists Association. After retirement, her life in Deer Isle was a continuing experience of beauty and creative endeavor.

She is survived by her loving husband of 55 years, Dan; a sister, Katherine Clark of St. Mary’s City, Md.; two nieces, Lani and Chris Clark; and four children and their families, Kim Salloway of Barrington, R.I., Dale Hotaling of Yellow Springs, Carey Hotaling of Freeport, Maine, and Clark Hotaling of St. Louis. Her later joy was grandmothering eight grandchildren: Travis and Rory Hotaling, Avi and Rachel Salloway, Rusty and Christo Milholland, and Jackson and Thomas Hotaling.

Memorial contributions would be welcome at the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, 8085 Saltsburg Road, Suite 201, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15239.

Tilton ‘Mac’ McDaniel

Tilton N. “Mac” McDaniel of Yellow Springs died Monday, Sept. 13, in Outlook Pointe in Miamisburg. He was 76.

Born in Dayton on March 3, 1922, he was the son of Howard and Ruth (Mitchell) McDaniel. He was a member of the St. Paul Catholic Church in Yellow Springs and a veteran of the U.S. Army. He retired as a lab technician from Vernay Laboratories in 1984.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Josephine Ann (Donohue) McDaniel; son, Joseph McDaniel; and daughter, Mary McDaniel.

Graveside services will be held Thursday, Sept. 16, 11 a.m., in St. Paul Cemetery in Yellow Springs. Jackson Lytle & Williams Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Paul Catholic Church, 308 Phillips Street.