Brenda Kay Hatley Bateman
January 3, 1954 – December 5, 2024

“Teacher Brenda” was born January 3, 1954, in Malvern Arkansas, to A.J. Hatley and Johnnie Porterfield Hatley. Her family moved to Lancaster, Texas when Brenda was a young child. She graduated from Lancaster High School, where she met the group of friends who led her to the Lord. She attended Jacksonville College and Texas Woman’s University, where she earned her degree in nursing. Brenda first met Paul Bateman in spring of 1975, while she was still in Jacksonville. They dated two years before becoming engaged, and, May 20, 1978, they married in Arlington, Texas, where they made their home. Six months after Paul and Brenda married, three boys ages 16, 15 and 9 needed a place to stay. In Brenda’s words, “The boys were a perfect fit for our family. Half Chinese. Half American. It felt like they had been ours forever.”

Teacher Brenda was a multi-tasker. While working several years as a surgical nurse and pediatric hospice nurse, Brenda would help Paul in his automotive business. In 1993, Paul was diagnosed with a blood disorder, similar to leukemia. Brenda took care of him, with the help of his parents and brothers. During this time, Brenda attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, earning her Master of Arts in Christian Education. She joined the staff of Arlington Chinese Church (ACC) as the Children’s Minister, serving there from 1997 to 2018. Paul died in April, 2010.

Teacher Brenda loved her Bateman family. She kept the Bateman family together by organizing Monday night family dinners, where she would do a lot of the cooking. She was also the family “doctor ” because of her nursing background. If anyone was ill, they would call her for advice at all hours of the day and she never minded it. Brenda took such good care of the Bateman parents. She would go with them to their doctor appointments, sit with them in the hospital, help with medication, and just be there for them.

In 2019, after retiring from the ACC, Teacher Brenda decided she wanted to move to Jacksonville, Texas. She rented an apartment in Jacksonville with plans to move there. However, her daddy-in-law became very ill, and Brenda stayed to take care of his medical needs. She spent weekdays in Arlington, and weekends in Jacksonville. In December, 2020, Brenda was diagnosed with breast cancer. After her daddy-in-law’s death in 2021, and after completing radiation treatments, Brenda sold her Arlington home and moved to Jacksonville full time.

Brenda had the heart of a true volunteer. And her volunteerism wasn’t “once a week or once a month”
positions. Just to name a few…
– Active in Arlington Clergy & Police Partnership (ACAPP), which often involved riding with a
police officer on calls that involved family disputes where children were present
– Vitas Hospice volunteer, sitting with HIV/AIDS patients
– Mentoring young women, college and professional, on a regular basis
– First Baptist Church Jacksonville “Disciple World” team leader
– Jacksonville College Alumni Board
– Jacksonville College Board of Trustees
– Volunteer at the local animal shelter

Brenda also wrote a weekly blog on her Facebook page, “Pathway Parables”, reflections of her connections to God through the world He created.

On Dec. 2, 2021, Teacher Brenda wrote this on a Facebook post:
“I passed the corner where I was privileged to build relationships with a group of 25 immigrant workers over a three-year period. Those were sweet and enriching years:  I carried home cooked meals, socks, umbrellas, bicycles, gloves and scarves. They gave me trust and friendship and shared pictures, memories and hopes for their families in Mexico. I received far more than I gave. But, once my father-by-love went on hospice, he became my primary focus and I passed my Hispanic men on to a wonderful couple who knew their language and loved their hearts.”

Brenda was preceded in death by her husband, Paul Bateman; parents, A.J. and Johnnie Hatley; father- and mother-in-law, BMA Missionary Jack and LaTrell Bateman; and nephew Thomas Bateman. She is survived by brothers-in-law John (Kathy) Bateman, Mark Bateman; Bruce Bateman; and sister-in-law Ann (Dan) Toepperwein; sons, John Chu, Bill (Deanna) Chu, Marshall Chu; and six grandchildren, Erin, Evan, Elissa, Elana, Cameron and Hayden; Aunt Sally Morgan; Aunt Micky Shatkin, many, many cousins, nieces, and nephews. Brenda also leaves many children, including many who are now adults, whom she taught, mentored and loved, in her ministry in the name of Jesus Christ.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to Arlington Chinese Church for Children’s Ministry or Missions. Gifts for missions can be made to ACC’s Missions Fund or other missions agencies. To give online, please visit https://www.accdfw.org/give/