Obituary of John L. Hatcher

Oneida-John Langford Pierrepont Hatcher died on September 25, 2020 at the Oneida Health Care Center after a brief illness. He was born on January 7, 1933 in Saratoga Springs, NY to Barbara Worden Noyes and John Howlett Hatcher. He attended Sherrill schools before graduating from the Mt. Hermon School. He graduated from Colgate University in 1954, and after two years in the Army, he attended the Wharton School of Business where he earned an MBA in 1958. He married Cornelia (Nini) Wayland-Smith at the Mansion House in 1956. After working for McCann-Erickson, an advertising agency in New York, he returned to Oneida and began his career at Oneida Ltd. He began as Director of Marketing for Oneida Ltd's UK Operations and then became Managing Director of UK Operations in Bangor, Northern Ireland and later in London. He and his wife, Nini, loved their time in the UK where they made many life-long friends. He returned to Oneida in 1970 and was named Director of Long Range Planning and later Director of North American Subsidiaries. He retired in 1995. He was an active supporter of Colgate, was elected to the Colgate Alumni Corporation Board of Directors, and for many years was the Alumni adviser to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house. He served as the head of the Oneida Community Mansion House, and he also served on the board of the Crouse Community Center in Morrisville, the Oneida City Planning Commission, and the Oneida Area Arts Council. He loved history and in his retirement authored the book Oneida Community Limited: A Goodly Heritage Gone Wrong, a history of the growth and demise of Oneida Ltd., the company he dearly loved. He was a grandson of Pierrepont B. Noyes and a great-grandson of John Humphrey Noyes. He was predeceased by his wife Cornelia and his brother Patrick W. Bolles. He is survived by his children John, Jeffrey (Ngoc-Thuy Nguyen), Elizabeth (Scott Gayner), and Joseph, his grandchildren Jack and William Gayner, and his beloved nephew and niece, Whitman Bolles and Amanda Hendren. He will be remembered by his friends and family for his remarkable memory, extensive recollections of his childhood and Oneida Ltd's history, his thoughtfulness, his diligence, his wide-ranging interests, and his sense of humor. A memorial service will be held in the Big Hall of the Mansion House on October 10th at 2PM. Due to the current situation, there will not be a reception afterwards. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Oneida Community Mansion House.