Dennis Hatton

     Dennis Dean Hatton, 60, died peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Monday, February 10, 2025 at Unity Point Medical Center, Waterloo, IA. His courageous battle with cancer was over. A celebration of life will be held on Monday, February 17 with a visitation at 10 am and a memorial service at 11am at Overton Funeral Home, 714 1st Street, Traer, IA with Brice Hoyt as celebrant. Graveside services will be held following the memorial at Buckingham Cemetery in rural Traer.

      Dennis was born August 5, 1964, the ninth child and second son of Bernard and Mary Alice (Aldrich) Hatton in Waterloo, Iowa. The Hattons made their home on Levering Street in Traer, IA. Neighborhood children were always assured there would be plenty of people to play outdoors as long as the Hattons were available. Dennis and his siblings rode their bicycles to the swimming pool most days it was open in the summer. 

     Dennis built a strong work ethic and understanding of the importance of budgeting his money through the various part-time jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in which he engaged. He graduated from North Tama High School with the class of 1982.

      In 1985, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia after meeting his life partner, Ron Jaspers on April 15 of that year. While living in Georgia, Dennis earned a bachelor's degree in computer information systems at DeVry University, Decatur, graduating with the class of 1997.The couple made their home in Atlanta and Stone Mountain, GA. before building their dream home in 1998 on the Jaspers family acreage in rural St Ansgar, IA, so they could be near Ron’s family. Dennis secured employment at Hormel Foods in Austin, MN. where he served as the EDI Application Development Analyst. He dedicated countless hours to designing and refining the company’s technological services.

      While at Hormel, he organized a number of volunteer service projects. He took great pride in The United Way of Mower County Cookbook, a collaborative effort filled with recipes from both his Hormel family and his relatives. The jams he made from fruit grown on the acreage became a signature of his which he sold to generate funds for the American Heart Association. These efforts allowed him to pair his love of cooking and baking with his desire to serve his community. Another passion of Dennis and Ron’s was dogs. Their home was filled with the love of their “girls” four poodles, who became the greeting committee for their guests. They were adamant supporters of a variety of pet rescues, the Fox River Sock Sale in Osage, and local festivals, including the Traer Winding Stairs Festival. Dennis was both generous and social. To know him was to love him.

     In May of 2013, while sitting watching the girls frolic in the yard, Ron suffered a massive heart attack that claimed his life. In tribute to his partner of 28 years, Dennis eventually rallied with the support of family and friends, and returned his attention to his girls and his work. He retired from Hormel in 2023 after 26 years of service when his health declined, due to a diagnosis and long-term battle with metastatic cancer. A diagnosis of lung cancer seemed to strengthen his appreciation of life as he battled courageously, completing his final chemo treatment on January 22 of this year. His spirit of giving was evident as he treated his nurses at the cancer center in Mason City to homemade cheesecake and chocolate chip banana bread.

     Left to cherish his memory are his siblings, Anne (Ron) Dengler, John Hatton, Kay Bergman (Dan Spore), Debbie (Robert) Hamilton, Patty (Curt) Bohnstengel, Nancy (Jeff) Dostal, Beth (Neil) Tremaine and Jane (Scott) Bowles. His nieces and nephews, Rodney Dengler, Michael Bergman (Aimee Maples), Ashley (Bob) Chase, Chris Freland (Jake Poshusta), Tanya Gray (Aaron Poshusta), Heather (Jon) Grimm, Samantha (Trey) Clark, Jessica (Brandon) Hill, Kate (Kasey) Backen, Jacque Dostal (Aaron Yuska), Kelli (Levi) Smith, Brent (Amber) Dostal, Dustin (Amanda) Lee and numerous great nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death were his parents, his lifelong partner, Ron Jaspers: his brother David Hatton; a niece, Sara Bohnstengel, and a nephew, Brandon Lee.