Lillian Irene “Renee” Hyatt passed away September 14, 2026, at the age of 101. At the time of her death she was a resident of Claridge Court in Prairie Village, Kansas.
Born January 14, 1925, in Lebam, Washington, Renee was the only daughter of five children born to William Barlow Willis and Effie Taylor Willis. Her brothers, Cecil, Thurston Leroy “T.L.”, Ray, and William all predeceased her.
After graduating from high school in 1943, Renee eloped to Idaho to marry her high school sweetheart, Bland B. “Bud” Hyatt Jr. Bud soon joined the Army Air Corps to fight as a navigator/bombardier in the Pacific Theater during World War II, the beginning of his 32-year military career as a commissioned officer in the U. S. Air Force. For the remainder of the war, Renee worked as a highly skilled welder in the Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver, Washington.
Their son Dennis was born in 1947; daughter Cheryl was born in 1950. Renee was a loving wife to Bud and happily supported his career in the military as the family was transferred from state to state many times. She had the major responsibility of caring for the children at home. She was a devoted and attentive mother, listening to endless hours of piano practice, serving as chauffeur to hundreds of school events and sports practices, chaperoning many sleep-over parties, volunteering as a Cub Scout den mother, being nurse for bouts of illness, cooking, cleaning, and running errands every day. At the same time Renee took up golf, bowing, and bridge, and learned to play them well, as they became hobbies she enjoyed for the rest of her life.
While Bud was stationed in California in the early 1950s, Renee studied law through correspondence school and sat for the three-day California State Bar exam. Although she did not pass the exam, she came close, and she was proud that she was the only one of her correspondence school classmates who did not abandon the exam during the first day. She subsequently obtained a California real estate license, but the family was soon relocated across the country. In the 1970s, she trained as a tax preparer and worked for a short time for a large tax preparation service firm. When Bud was transferred to Washington, D.C., Renee took the U.S. Civil Service exam and was quickly placed with the U.S. Patent Office as a patent application proofreader, where she worked for several years.
After Bud’s death in 1984, Renee moved to Southern Pines. In 1994, she married Nathan “Nate” McClure II. Renee and Nate were happily married for 17 years and throughout that time travelled extensively. When Nate died in 2011, Renee had become a stepmother and step-grandmother to Nate’s children and grandchildren. Her grandchildren affectionately called her “Mommo” and her step grandchildren referred to her as “BG”—bonus grandmother. They all remember her as a perfect grandmother!
To all who knew her, Renee was a model representative of what newsman Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation.” She believed everyone should have challenging, worthwhile work, and everyone should enjoy the love and support of family and friends. She encouraged lifelong learning and strongly supported family members while they were getting their college and post-graduate degrees. She taught what it means to do right and to be generous with life to family, friends and community.
Her ashes will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C., at the gravesite of her first husband Bland B Hyatt, Jr.
Survivors are her son Dennis Hyatt and wife Patricia of Eugene, Oregon; daughter Cheryl Crumpecker and husband Skip of Kansas City, Missouri; granddaughter Christina Crumpecker; granddaughter Cayce Gilhousen and husband Brian; deceased stepson Nathan McClure III’s wife Donna of Lynchburg, Virginia; step-granddaughter Teal McClure Iovinetti and husband Tony and their son AJ; step-granddaughter Alicia McClure Schneider and husband Mike and their twin children Hannah and Nicholas; and step granddaughter Megan McClure Lam and her daughters Ella and Lilly.
Obituary published by Signature Funerals.
