Peter Lloyd Hatton Sr.

Nov. 24, 1921 – Oct. 29, 2012

Peter Lloyd Hatton Sr., 90, of Valley Springs, died peacefully in his sleep from natural causes on Oct. 29, 2012, at Villa Marche Assisted Living Facility in Stockton. He was born Nov. 24, 1921, in Oakland, the only child of Leonard and Gertrude Hatton.

In early 1942, Peter left his studies at the University of California at Davis and was promptly drafted by the Army. Before he was sent overseas, he married Virginia Lowe of Davis. He served as a first sergeant with the 785th Military Police Battalion and was qualified as a sharpshooter with a 45-caliber pistol. He was awarded the WWII Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. He returned from overseas and was granted an honorable discharge from the Army in December 1945. He and Virginia lived in Long Beach and Sacramento. They were the parents to two sons and two daughters.

In 1963 while living in Carmel and working in Monterey at Beattie Motors, Peter married Betty Stapleton. He was active in the business community of Monterey and also served as an Executive Committee member of the Laguna Seca Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) for many years.

They moved to El Macero in 1970 and Peter, along with Dan Marks, opened Hatton-Marks Ford at Fifth and G streets in Davis. In 1975, Peter became the sole owner and changed the name to Hatton Ford until his retirement in 1982. Peter was very active in the Davis business community and was a past president of the Rotary Club of Davis. Peter and Betty moved to the SaddleBrooke Country Club in Tucson, Ariz., in 1992 and then back to California in 2004 to be near family.

Peter was an avid golfer and he was proud of the fact that he had achieved five holes-in-one in his lifetime with his last coming when he was 89 years old at the La Contenta Golf Club in Valley Springs.

Peter and Betty were adventurous and loved to travel. They toured Europe, China, Mexico and many other countries around the world. They spent three months touring the United States and Canada by motor home and also embarked upon a six-week motor home tour of Mexico. While in their mid-70s, they spent eight days white-water rafting on the Colorado River.

He is survived by Betty Hatton, his wife of 49 years, of Valley Springs; daughter Joy Schmiedt of Sacramento; son Peter Hatton Jr. (Liz) of Nevada City; daughter Christine Meyers (Hank) of Redmond, Wash.; son Douglas Hatton (Margee) of Davis; stepsons Dee Stapleton (Liz) of Valley Springs, Mike Stapleton (Constance Reeves) of Grass Valley, Greg Stapleton of Matador, Texas, and Randy Stapleton of Valley Springs; 18 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

At Mr. Hatton’s request, all arrangements will be private.