Mr. DARNELL HATTER , Sr.

My story began on August 13, 1942 in Gainesville, Alabama. Did ya’ll know that my name was originally Percy Cleophus? Yep, I know some of ya’ll might be shocked. Gratefully, my older sister Exie Mae insisted that my name should be changed to Darnell Hatter and my momma said ok. I was the youngest of 13 born to my momma Lucinda Long-Hatter and my daddy Emanuel Hatter Sr. I have tons of stories that I could tell about growing up with my siblings in Alabama. I graduated from Gainesville Junior High School around 1955 right before I moved to Chicago with my momma and my sister Christine (Teen), where some of my siblings were already. I couldn’t wait to get to the big city.

I attended and graduated from Cregier High School where I realized and discovered my love for upholstery, and I was good at it, no I was great at it too. So much so that I became a master upholsterer. Some of ya’lls aunties and uncles who went to them local lounges and taverns had the privilege of sitting on some of my greatest work. You know them bar stools they sat on Saturday night and those church pews they turned around and sat on on Sunday morning, that was all my work. I was in high demand, so much so that I couldn’t do it all by myself. So, I trained my nephews Melvin, Myles aka Slim, Charlie aka Smiley, Steve and Bernard who also became master upholsterers. Later I tried to train my son, but he could tell ya’ll about that later.

While hanging out in the neighborhood with my best friend Ollie Gardiner aka Punkin, I met and fell in love with his sister, Ollie Mae Gardiner aka Penny. We got married in 1962 and had two beautiful children Wanda and Darnell Jr. Y’all call him Don but can ya’ll imagine calling him Percy Cleophus, Jr.?

Me being Darnell, or Little Buddy as they called me, met my next wife Harriett Dinkins. After the dust settled, Harriett and I were married and we had two beautiful daughters, Germean aka Ooch and Lucia aka Lucy. We lived in St. Louis, where I owned an Upholstery shop, worked at Rothman Furniture and was a dedicated Mason in the Masonic Order. When Harriett took ill I thought that she needed a companion (Cookie - who ended up being my companion). Harriett passed away in 2013 and it was just me and Cookie.

At the direction of my big sisters, my children moved me back to Chicago in 2016 because they were worried about me living alone so far away. The day they moved me back it took me back to what my momma always said, “once a man twice a child”. At that point I began telling my kids, especially Wanda, ya’ll the boss. I moved into a senior building that my two older sisters lived in. We had us a good time in there. My other brothers and sisters would come visit us and listen to Willie Mae tell the best stories about “Dem Hanks”.

After retirement I still needed to keep myself busy. I would walk up to my buddy Stanley’s upholstery shop and help him out until that gat damn Corona in November of 2020 knocked me down and I was on a ventilator for 13 days. When I woke up, I wasn’t the same. I could no longer do the things I loved to do by myself. My bosses aka my kids made the decision to move me into an assisted living facility. I lived there until my health failed me and on March 28, 2025, I checked out of here and now I’m on the other side with my parents Lucinda and Emanuel, Sr., siblings, Fannie Dixon, Exie Underwood, Willie Hinton, Burnette Underwood, Christine Hatter, Susie McCloud, Barnes Hatter, Emanuel Hatter Jr., and Jamie Roy Hatter. My daughters Dr. Wanda Stewart and Lucia Hatter and my two beautiful wives Penny and Harriett standing there talking together. I wonder what they talkin about.

To my sisters Dorothy aka Darthy and Virginia aka Baybay (Joe), my children, Darnell Jr. aka Don (Tenesha), Germean, my creeps, Jacque, Kyka, Maya, Vanessa, my great grandchildren, Cadence and Jenasys, and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends…. I say HEY YOU!