With all the talk of off-topic messages, I hesitated to post this one. But many of you knew Becky Hatfield through her participation in birding trips with the Columbus Avid Birders group and her attendance at a number of Ohio Ornithological Society conferences and symposiums. So here goes, and I hope that everyone will forgive this non-bird posting. Those who knew Becky will be saddened to learn that she passed away on Monday. Her passing is a loss to the Ohio birding community and to those of us privileged to call her a friend. Her obituary is below. Bill Heck ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published in The Columbus Dispatch on 11/8/2006 Rebecca Lou "Becky" (Pickard) Hatfield HATFIELD Rebecca Lou "Becky" (Pickard) Hatfield, 63, of Delaware, died Monday afternoon at Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus. She was born September 3, 1943 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Louis Robert Pickard and Barbara (Booth) Pickard. She was an author who received her Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from Indiana University. She was a member of the Foul Play Mystery Book Club and AVIDS. She enjoyed birding, writing mystery novels, traveling, photography, calligraphy, painting, and jewelry making. She was a friend to all and will be greatly missed. She is survived by her companion, Bill Reichert of Delaware; son, Scott Hatfield of Chagrin Falls; daughter, Vikki Spain of Marysville; 2 brothers, Kevin (Suijin) Pickard of Thousand Oaks, California and Wayne (Terri) Pickard of Greenwood, Indiana; 3 sisters, Terese Brost of Indianapolis, Indiana and Kathy and Janice Pickard of Denver, Colorado; numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister Sharon Barr. The family will receive friends on Friday, November 10th from 4 – 7 p.m. at the RODMAN NEEPER FUNERAL HOME, BENNETT BROWN CHAPEL, 1510 W. William St., Delaware, where funeral service will follow at 7 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Audobon Society in her memory. Condolences may be expressed at www.rodmanneeper.com. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]