'She saw herself as a servant': Bartow woman whose ALS fight inspired others dies at 64

Even after receiving one of the cruelest possible diagnoses, Cathy Hatch did not give in to despair.

Jim Hatch, Cathy’s husband and a retired pastor, said her “life verse” from the Bible was Deuteronomy 30:19, which includes the phrase, “Choose life.”

“And that was her choice every day — ‘I'm going to choose life today,’ ” Jim Hatch said. “And so, she wasn't afraid to die. She wasn't afraid of death. But she chose life. She embraced it.”

Cathy Hatch’s life ended Oct. 25, two years after she received a diagnosis of ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes loss of bodily control and has no known cure. Hatch, who was 64, died at her Bartow home, in the presence of family members and friends.

A native of Mississippi, Hatch earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Mississippi University for Women and did graduate work in computer science at Mississippi State University, Jim Hatch said. She oversaw the telecommunications network for the Mississippi Highway Patrol and later taught math at a community college in Kentucky.

The couple moved in 1996 to Bartow, where Jim became pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Cathy shifted from her technological background to become executive director of the Homeless Coalition of Polk County and later led the local chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness.

Hatch also worked for six years with Peace River Center, a nonprofit providing behavioral health services, as a grant writer. She then moved into a position with Polk County government as senior planner for indigent health care. She retired from that job following her diagnosis of ALS in September 2020.

'I'm going to beat this'

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, damages nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing progressive loss of the ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe. Though the speed of progression greatly varies, along with the effect on particular abilities, the mean survival period is two to five years, according to the ALS Association.

Upon receiving her diagnosis from a neurologist, Hatch immediately devoted herself to surviving the disease, her husband said.

“She would tell people, ‘I'm going to beat this,’ ” Jim Hatch said. “And I think that's common. A lot of people who face that kind of diagnosis, some give up — which is not a criticism. Everybody has to make their own choice, and some people choose, ‘If this is the way it's going to be, I'm not going to fight it.’ But Cathy was like, ‘No, I'm going to beat this.’ And in her way, she did. She really did. I don't see this, and Cathy wouldn't see this, as a loss.”

Cathy Hatch had a form of ALS that quickly affected her throat. She lost the ability to speak about six months after he diagnosis and became unable to eat solid food last December. Hatch used a computerized speech-generating device, typing in words for the machine to speak, and last December she had a feeding tube implanted.

Yet Hatch retained the capacity to walk, even as she became reliant on a walker.

In January, Hatch enrolled in a treatment regimen at a private clinic in Miami. She posted regular updates in a private Facebook group, Cathy’s ALS Team, with more than 200 members, many of them others with ALS. Her early posts reflected optimism and documented improvements in strength.

Having lost nearly 50 pounds since her diagnosis, Hatch exulted in reporting in April that she had gained back seven pounds.

“The one (word) that comes to my mind was she was always hopeful,” Jim Hatch said. “She never lost hope. And her hope was not ultimately in being cured or healed, but hope for strength for that day. So she was able to look at little things, moving my fingers.”

Cathy Hatch sometimes included Bible verses in her Facebook updates. Her faith bolstered her endurance, but the ravages of ALS sometimes got her down, Jim Hatch said.

“There were some struggles, because probably most of us with faith, we want to think that maybe bad things aren't supposed to happen to good people or ‘Why am I going through this,’ ” he said. “And sure, she had those moments. But the saying that she really hung onto, it almost sounds cliche, but it's true. This is what her faith was, is everything's going to be all right in the end. And if it's not all right, then it's not the end.”

Jim Hatch said his wife befriended fellow patients in such places as Iran, Australia, England and Poland. She provided guidance on adjusting to a feeding tube or applying for disability payments. Jim Hatch said that when he speaks at his wife’s celebration of life service, he will emphasize her service to others.

“The one word that I use to describe her is she saw herself as a servant,” he said. “And even in the two-year journey with ALS, she saw it as an opportunity to encourage others, to share information, and that was really cool.”

Cathy formed a friendship with Laura Pinner, a Lakeland woman who was diagnosed with ALS last year at age 52. Jim and Cathy Hatch visited Pinner at her home, and after that the women exchanged daily text messages, said Pinner, who lost her ability to walk soon after her diagnosis but is still able to talk.

“She was so humble and so kind,” Pinner said Monday. “We’re sisters and comrades in something that’s really devastating, yet it can bring people together.”

'I need to change my focus'

Hatch posted to her Facebook group in June about a “little glitch” at her hotel room in Miami. She lost her balance and fell, breaking an ankle, an injury that required a surgical repair and eight weeks of recovery.

Jim Hatch said that his wife wasn’t able to resume her treatments after that, and her condition began to decline. About two weeks before her death, Cathy told her husband one morning that they needed to talk. For the first time, she acknowledged that she was dying.

“And she said, ‘So I need to change my focus. I need to start focusing on what comes next. I need to start looking forward to heaven instead of fighting on this earth,’ ” Jim Hatch said. “So even in her own heart and mind, she was shifted. She knew that the time was coming.”

Hatch arranged for home hospice care, and relatives and friends gathered at the Bartow home on Oct. 25, Cathy’s first day home after a hospital stay. Within a few hours, as she sat in her recliner chair, she passed from life.

Cathy Hatch is survived by three adult offspring, a daughter and two sons, as well as eight grandchildren. Jim Hatch said he is grateful that his wife was able to hold her youngest grandchild, then just three weeks old, before she entered the hospital in late September.

The family will receive friends on Nov. 12 from 10 to 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 355 S. Florida Ave., in Bartow, followed by a celebration of life.

“She was an angel,” Pinner said. “And she was so brave. And she was determined to live out her life fully.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Cathy Hatch of Bartow dies after 2-year, inspiring battle with ALS