Honoring Annette Danes Hiatt

The Santa Fe Railway Company sent me (and my family) to El Paso in August of 1989.  I was promoted to Assistant Superintendent-Operating and needed to get there quickly.  It ever seemed that way.  We want you at (location) and you need to get there right away.  My family was vacationing in So. California when this call came.  I immediately called my wife and told her the circumstances and left for my new assignment.

We weren't able to purchase a house right away so we rented a home on the west side of El Paso for one year.  Then we did find a home to purchase on the ease side of El Paso.  It was in the old 8th ward. This was in August of 1990.  We hadn't even completely unpacked when a young lady approached us and invited us to dinner.

This young lady was Annette Danes Hiatt.  She always met new ward members with an invitation to come to her home and enjoy dinner with her, her husband, and her children.  It was always a wonderful time of food, conversation, and ministering.

The Hiatts, the Blacks, the Tilleys, the Andersons, the Steeles, the Johnsons, the Newlins, and other families became fast friends.  We did much together.  We enjoyed thanksgiving together and invited other families to come and enjoy our time together too.  We laughed together, we worked together, we cried together, and we ministered to each other.  We still interact with one another even now after many of us have moved away from El Paso.

Annette Danes Hiatt lost her battle with cancer yesterday at about 1pm MDT.  She knew it was happening and had prepared herself and her family for it.  Her husband, Mike, was there with her as she passed.  His life will be empty for a time as he deals with the grief and pain of separation.  The 8 children have known for months, perhaps years, that this day would come, but that knowledge doesn't make this time of grief less.  

We will all miss the exuberant, vibrant, positive personality that was Annette Danes Hiatt, but her family will miss her most.  

I imagine that her arrival into the Spirit World, though somewhat pleasant for her, is also a little bitter-sweet.  She will miss interaction with her husband and family, but will enjoy reuniting with family and friends who have gone before her.

So, this article is to honor Annette Danes Hiatt.  I struggle to know how best to demonstrate my love for her and her family better than write about it.  

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