PR:"ANA General Counsel George D. Hatie Dies"
ANA
AMERICAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 1997
CONTACT: Stephen L. Bobbitt
Telephone: 719/632-COIN; Fax: 719/634-4085
E-mail: ana...@money.org
ANA GENERAL COUNSEL GEORGE D. HATIE DIES
George D. Hatie, general counsel for the American
Numismatic Association (ANA) for 20 years, member of the
Numismatic Hall of Fame and a past president of the ANA, died
Thursday in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Life Member 310, Hatie
was 87 years old.
"The loss of George to the Association will be great," ANA
President Kenneth Bressett said. "In his memory, the ANA will
dedicate its 106th Anniversary Convention in New York next
month to George."
"George Hatie was a gentleman and a friend to all those
who met him, giving so much to the ANA without thought to
personal gain," said ANA Executive Director Robert J. Leuver.
"He was a remarkable man and a brilliant attorney, whose legal
counsel was terse, cogent and conservative. Deeply committed to
his religion, George will be missed personally and by the ANA."
Edward Rochette, an ANA past President and former
executive director during Hatie's tenure as general counsel and
Board member, said, "There are no words that can express the loss
to the ANA with George's passing. He personified the best of this
Association."
Hatie was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 11, 1910.
He graduated from the University of Detroit Law School in 1933,
where he led his class and was editor-in-chief of the law review.
He joined the law firm of Cross, Wrock in 1936, and was made a
partner in 1945. Hatie remained with the prestigious law firm for
61 years.
At the ANA's 105th Anniversary Convention in Denver last
year, Hatie was inducted into the Association's Numismatic Hall
of Fame. A collector for most of his life, Hatie joined the ANA
in April 1948. In 1963 he was named legal counsel for the ANA,
the third person to hold the position. He stepped down from that
position in 1967 and was elected to the ANA Board of Governors,
serving as a governor until 1973 when he was elected vice
president. Hatie lost his first bid for the presidency in 1975, but
returned as vice president in 1977 and was elected president in
1979. He returned to serve as ANA general counsel from 1981
until his death.
Hatie also served as president of the Token and Medal
Society (TAMS), Central States Numismatic Society, Michigan
State Numismatic Society, Detroit Coin Club, Grosse Pointe
Numismatic Society and the Lake Erie Exonumist Society. He also
served on the United States Assay Commission in 1975, and on the
boards and committees of the Society of Paper Money Collectors,
Paper Money Collectors of Michigan and the Penn-Ohio Coin
Club. A TAMS medal was struck in his honor in 1972 by the
Medallic Arts Company.
His strong leadership and devotion to the hobby earned him
the ANA's highest honor, the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award for
Distinguished Service in 1982, the ANA Medal of Merit in 1992,
the Glenn Smedley Memorial Award in 1993 and the Lifetime
Achievement Award in 1994.
Hatie's life outside the hobby was as prolific as the one he
enjoyed within the numismatic community. He served as president
of the Michigan Humane Society, honorary vice president of the
American Humane Association, and on the boards of the Kidney
Foundation of Michigan and the Girl Scouts of Metropolitan
Detroit.
Although his awards were many, Hatie always was willing
to share the credit. In closing out his term as ANA president in
August 1981, he said: "I am most grateful to all those who have
worked with me so diligently for the benefit of the Association."
Services for Hatie are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Monday,
June 30, at the Verheyden Funeral Home (16300 Mack) in Grosse
Pointe Park, Michigan. A mass at St. Clare of Montefalco Catholic
Church (Mack at Whittier) will begin at 10 a.m., and burial will
follow the services at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.