Surrounded by his family, Irvin Clifford Hatridge, Jr. passed away peacefully on May 30, 2018, at the age of 90. He was born on January 27, 1928, to Ima Grissom Hatridge and Irvin Clifford Hatridge, Sr. in Bay City, Texas. When Irvin was seven, his family moved to Corpus Christi where his father worked as a manager for Southern Minerals Corporation. He graduated from Corpus Christi High School and then obtained business and law degrees from Southern Methodist University. Shortly after passing the bar exam, he was drafted into the U.S. Army for the Korean conflict. Fate intervened when the Army first sent him to Counterintelligence School, where he was immersed in the German language, and then to Augsburg, Germany. In Augsburg, there was a large community of Hungarian expatriates comprised of WWII refugees and escapees from communism. Irvin was assigned to work in this community with a Hungarian engineer as his liaison. Through the liaison’s wife, Irvin was introduced to a beautiful young woman, Ilona Martin, and love quickly bloomed. Their romance was interrupted by his discharge from the Army, but they continued their romance by writing letters to one another. Soon after arriving back in the U.S., Irvin wrote to her proposing marriage. He returned to Augsburg where they were married in a small church (where Martin Luther had preached) and then made their way to Corpus Christi on a Dutch merchant ship. They were blessed with five children, eleven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Irvin loved his family and was a great provider. He made his living practicing law, including as a trust officer for Guaranty National Bank and as an oil and gas attorney. He had a reputation for doing things the right way, and his legal work was noted for precision, brevity, and no loose ends. He was an avid hunter and fisherman in his early years and played golf as long as he was able. He was known for his wise counsel, kindness, and caring nature. He is survived by his wife, Ilona, his children, John, David, Susie (Jeff), Stephen (Andrea) and Paul (Kimberly), as well as his grandchildren, Michael (Cate), Trevor, Nathan (Lauren), Reese (Christian), Daniel, Julia, Natalie, Ali, Taylor, Tanner and Grace, and two great-grandchildren, Henry and Thomas.
The Hatridge family would like to give their heartfelt thanks to the many caregivers that took care of Irvin during his time at the Wooldridge Nursing Home.
A visitation will be held at Seaside Funeral Home from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Sunday, June 3. A funeral service for Irvin will be held at 1:00 pm on Monday, June 4 at Seaside Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow at Seaside Memorial Park.
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