Gretchen G. Hyde

Hastings resident, Gretchen G. Hyde, 91, passed away Friday, August 28, 2015 at Perkins Pavilion, Good Samaritan Society, Hastings-Village.



Memorial services will be Friday, September 4, 2015 1:00pm at Apfel Funeral Home with Pastor Cindy Karges officiating. There will be no visitation, Gretchens wishes were to be cremated. Apfel Funeral Home, Hastings is in charge of the arrangements. Condolences may be sent to the family from www.apfelfuneralhome.com.



Memorials are suggested to Sinte Gleska College.



Gretchen was born on October 19, 1923 to Forest and Bertha (Trustenltzer) Ward. She grew up in Malden, Massachusetts and received her education at Radcliffe College. She served our country as a civilian translator during World War II and the Korean War from 1944-1953. She was united in marriage to George S. Hyde on July 7, 1961. After which the couple lived in Magnolia, Massachusetts where she was employed by the Gloucester Public Schools. She also lived in Waldoboro, Maine for many years and considered it her home. She had lived in Japan for five years and Portugal for a short time. She taught organic gardening at Essex Agricultural and Technical Institute.



She was a member of Maine Organic Farmers and the Gardeners Association, the NRA, National Audubon Society, and Ducks Unlimited.



Gretchen loved nature, wild life, wild plants, and especially gardening. She was a life-long gardener and naturalist, and could identify numerous wild plants by various names and uses. She studied Linguistics and spoke several languages including Japanese, Portuguese, French, and Russian in addition to English. She enjoyed spending time in her garden, growing heirloom varieties of vegetables. One of her favorite was Hog Heart tomatoes. When she was able to, she raised all of her own food and preserved her own vegetables and fruits for winter. She was a very independent and valued self-sufficiency above anything else. She enjoyed both learning new things and teaching others, and strived to impart a sense of curiosity and wonder in all who knew her. In recent years Gretchen lived with her daughter Laura and her family. As a family Gretchen enjoyed in sharing 4H activities, family gatherings, and visiting the farmers market. Gretchen had a dry wit and a well-developed sense of humor, and enjoyed the gentle teasing that went along with her love of craft beer. She will be greatly missed.



She is survived by her daughter, Laura (Jerry) Allen of Juniata, NE, two grandchildren, Sarah Allen of Juniata and Ben Allen (Destiny Crum) of Columbus, KS and two great grandchildren Noah Vaughan and Isaac Allen both of Columbus, KS.



She was preceded in death by her parents, husband George, daughter Rebecca Hyde and step granddaughter, Clea Paine.