Claudette B. Hatfield

Claudette Butler Hatfield, 85, passed away on May 12, 2021.  She was born in Kinston, NC on April 7, 1936, the daughter of Lois Petteway and Claude Lindsey Butler.  Ms. Hatfield is survived by her sister, Ann Butler Johnson of Greenville, NC; sons, Wilson Daughtry (Susan) of Fort Mill and David Daughtry of Longwood, FL; grandsons, Curt Daughtry (Shannon) of Greenville and Logan Daughtry (Anna) of Pineville, NC; great-grandchildren, Hank and Vera Daughtry of Greenville.

Ms. Hatfield received a Bachelor’s Degree from UNC-Greensboro and a Master’s Degree from Francis Marion University. At the graduate level, she pursued continuing education at ten additional universities.   Ms. Hatfield was a social studies teacher and department chair at Williams Middle School in Florence where she was awarded the Teaching Excellence Award in 1998.  She spent a summer in Almaty and Ust-Kamenogorsk in Kazakhstan.  While there, she taught teachers and students in two schools and conducted a workshop for 51 teachers in the Ust-Kamenogorsk area.

Ms. Hatfield was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminar Abroad Scholarship for study-travel in Egypt, Zimbabwe and China.  She was the first South Carolina teacher to be awarded the Distinguished Teaching Achievement Award by the National Council for Geographic Education.

The National Council for the Social Studies, French Embassy and French Cultural Services awarded Ms. Hatfield a scholarship to study the European Community in France.  She co-authored the teacher’s edition of the Silver Burdett and Ginn’s World Geography, a seventh-grade textbook. She was awarded The SC Council for the Social Studies Outstanding Secondary Teacher of the Year. A founding member of the SC Geographic Alliance, Ms. Hatfield served on the Steering Committee and implemented the Family Geography Challenge Program, coordinated Geography Awareness Week and originated the SCGA Geofest.  She was a graduate of five National Geographic Society sponsored Summer Geography Institutes and an instructor at USC Summer Geography Institute.  A strong advocate for geography, she gave numerous presentations at the local, state, regional and national levels.

Ms. Hatfield retired in 1999 after 30 years of teaching in North and South Carolina.  She moved to Lexington, SC to be close to her grandchildren.  Though retired, she taught outreach science classes for EdVenture Children’s Museum and was a tutor for members of the USC Men’s Basketball Team.  In addition, she loved volunteering at Jubilee Academy and other community and church outreach programs.           Ms. Hatfield was a voracious reader, a lifelong student and world traveler.  Ms. Hatfield’s greatest joy was being Curt and Logan’s Grandette and Hank and Vera’s Dette.

A memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, May 15, 2021 at Lexington Baptist Church with the Rev. Dan Williams officiating.  In lieu of flowers, please donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Barr-Price Funeral Home and Crematorium, Lexington Chapel is assisting the family.

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