Mae Deck Hiatt

Mae Deck Hiatt was born March 10, 1893 In Oskaloosa, Iowa and attended high school and William Penn College there. Later she attended Columbia University and University of Nebraska. During World War I she was associated with Y.M.C.A. and Red Cross organizations in France and England. During 1917 and 1918 she organized canteens for the servicemen. As a tour guide she gave lectures and tours through the famous buildings and art galleries of London and Paris.

When she returned to the United States after the war she was involved with the Chautauqua organization developing programs of lectures and concerts in the midwest area. In 1921 she married Clarence Wright Hiatt and moved to Beatrice, Nebraska where he was in the real estate/insurance business and farm management. They had 2 children Robert Deck Hiatt of Omaha and Ruth Hiatt Thompson of Ames. Her grandchildren are Grant Edward Phipps, Rebecca Ann Lorenzen, Nancy Lynn Bayerle and Robert David Hiatt, Janet Gay Hiatt and Richard Martin Hiatt.

She taught Latin and French; English and American Literature in various Iowa and Nebraska high schools and also taught dramatics and directed class plays. During her early years of teaching she also coached women’s basketball. After moving to Lincoln she sold real estate with her husband's company. She enjoyed giving book reviews oil painting and writing poetry. As a freelance author she contributed poems and articles to magazines and anthologies. Membership in the following organizations included Nebraska Writers Guild. Women's Overseas League American Assn. of University Women. American Legion Auxiliary (national vice pres. 1933-35); Nebraska Realtors Retired Teachers Organization and the Methodist Church. All of her life she recalled how happy she was to receive her own library card from the Oskaloosa Library when she was 10 years old.

Mae Deck Hiatt died February 14, 1991.

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