OBITUARY: Douglas A. Hamlin

Douglas Arnold Hamlin was born September 9, 1903 to Nathaniel Douglas and Elva Crane Hamlin at Hamlin's Grove in a log cabin built by his pioneering grandfather Nathaniel Hamlin, a first settler of Audubon county, near Exira, Iowa. While he was still a small child, the family moved to Harrison, Nebraska, and later lived in Eastern Nebraska. They returned to Iowa and Douglas received most of his education in Iowa. His mother was left a widow while some of the family was still at home, so Douglas became a wage earner early in life. He was always mechanically inclined and became a drag line operator which became his lifetime occupation.

On Oct. 5, 1927, he married Mary Frances Eads in Chillicothe, Missouri To this union, one son was born, Robert Douglas Hamlin. The family lived in Illinois at that time where Douglas was employed as a drag line operator for a large coal mine. Later four Hamlin brothers opened a coal mining and sales operation in the Bonaparte and Farmington, Iowa, area known as the Hamlin Brothers Coal Co. The Hamlins lived in Farmington for 32 years.
Following their retirement, they moved to Chillicothe, Missouri, in 1973.

He was a member of the A. F. & A. M. Chapter 488, Lock Springs, Missouri, and transferred to Mt. Moriah Lodge #27, Farmington, where he was given his 50 year pin in 1976.
He died at Missouri Methodist Center, St. Joseph, Missouri, April 3, 1978.
Survivors include his wife, Frances of the Missouri Methodist Medical Center; one son, Robert D., a daughter-in-law, Mary Lou, and two grandchildren, Deborah Sue and Timothy Douglas, all of Boulder, Colorado; five sisters, Mrs. Maude Kreamer, Orlando, Fl., Mrs. Edith Newland, Belle Plaine, Mrs. Claire McAninch, Mrs. Evelyn Hensley and Mrs. Delphine Carter, all of Exira; one brother, Cecil Hamlin, Mendon, Missouri, and numerous nephews and nieces.

He was preceded in death by three brothers and his parents.
Last rites were held at the United Methodist Church, Chillicothe, Missouri, April 6, with the Rev. Earl C. Griffith officiating, assisted by Rev. Clinton Galatas. Members of the Mt. Moriah Masonic Lodge, Farmington, Iowa, were the active pall bearers with members of the Lock Springs Masonic Lodge as Honorary pall bearers. Burial was in Resthaven Memorial Gardens, Chillicothe, Missouri.