Lloyd Hathcock ran into a girl named Princess on a Mediterranean cruise ship that left from Barcelona last month, Hathcock’s husband, Hugo Rosales, said. She was a South African hotel guest-relations manager for the cruise and immediately noticed Hathcock’s smile and warmth.
Princess became a new friend who helped Rosales when Hathcock experienced a medical emergency during the voyage.
Lloyd Vann Hathcock, 46, of Atlanta died Nov. 7 following heart complications. He was cremated, and a memorial service is planned for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Stone Mountain Chapel of Wages and Sons Funeral Home.
Rosales said Princess was one of many friends Hathcock made as an avid world traveler to the continent of Africa and countries such as Costa Rica, Italy, Panama and Mexico. While some of his travels were for leisure, he also worked for the American Water Works Association and aided conservation efforts in diverse communities on his trips.
“He showed me that life should be lived without fear,” Rosales said. “Fear doesn’t have a place in anyone’s life.”
Hathcock was not only fearless in his travel destinations, he was also fearless about embracing different cultures, picking up conversations with locals, cruise ship staffers and others wherever he went. He had an “extreme appreciation” for people of different ethnicities and socioeconomic levels, Rosales said.
“He never saw a person by the color of their skin or their beliefs,” Rosales said.
Even at the end of conversations that had lasted only five minutes, Hathcock would exchange contact information and become Facebook friends with strangers, Rosales said.
Along with new friends, Hathcock brought back a wealth of cultural knowledge and ethnic recipes, the latter of which he served to those close to him to back home, such as Mike Farrell.
“I would have no idea (how to spell the names of the recipes),” Farrell said. “I just know it was really good.”
Hathcock was “a bigger than life person,” Farrell concluded, and Rosales agreed.
“His eyes were soulful,” Rosales said. “They invited you in.”
In addition to Rosales, Hathcock is survived by his mother, Betty Howell Hathcock, and his father, Ed Cranford, of Hendersonville, N.C.; his brother, Darrell Hathcock of London, Ky.; and his sister, Evonne Hathcock Juries of Apex, N.C.
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