- Date Of Birth: October 26, 1922
- Date Of Death: April 18, 2017
- State: New Mexico
Hazel O. Hammonds, age 94, of Roswell passed away Tuesday April 18, 2017.
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.
