Obituary of William Hacker

William (Bill) Craig Hacker died Saturday night, March 1, 2014 with his wife, Sara, and members of his extended family at his side. Bill was born in Johnson City, Tennessee on June 12, 1950 to Ted B. Hacker II and Harriet Brickey Hacker. He was a cadet at the Tennessee Military Institute (TMI) before entering East Tennessee State University (ETSU). As a freshman, he saw a beautiful girl across the floor in dance class and immediately maneuvered himself into place to be her partner. Sara Ma was a junior, three years older than he was, from a protective Chinese family that had never permitted her to date. His ancestors had lived in East Tennessee from before the Civil War; her family had recently arrived from the Republic of China. She studied chemistry; he studied history. She ate rice; he sat down with a bowl of country ham gravy and a box of Minute Rice, determined to teach himself to like the stuff. They married three years later and loved each other for forty-two more. Bill completed his B.A. in three years and then earned an M.A. in History from ETSU. He returned to TMI to teach history, and then taught high school in Orange, VA. They moved to Hartford, CT in 1976, where Sara began an actuarial career at Aetna and Bill put his teaching skills to work in the insurance industry, first at Aetna, then at Cigna and Prudential. Bill retired as Director of Learning from Prudential in 2011. Bill welcomed everyone he met and accepted everyone as they were. His view of the world was clear-eyed and no-nonsense, valuing intelligence over ideology. His wit was dry but never mean. He prided himself on self-sufficiency, but was always quick to lend a hand, an ear, or a shoulder. He loved to cook for friends and family, to shuck oysters and mix martinis, to listen and tell stories, and to travel with the people in his life. But he was just as happy to sit in the early mornings with a cup of coffee, Sara at his side, in their living room furnished with his parents' antique sideboard and Chinese paintings on the walls. Bill was a devoted son and son-in-law to his parents and parents-in-law, now deceased. He cared for his older brother, Ted Hacker III, and for Ada and Otto Lin, Linda and David Sung, Tony Ma, Katy Chan, Tina and Tony Yue, and Mark and Anita Ma, all of whom embraced Bill as their own brother. He was proud to be the Ma family's self-proclaimed "white sheep"; and second-best Chinese chef. Two generations of nieces, nephews, and friends' children all adored "Uncle Bill". He participated in their enthusiasms, embraced their friends, took their ideas and their ambitions seriously, and indulged them whenever he was with them. A memorial service will be held Sat. 3/8, 3 pm, at Mulryan Funeral Home. Friends are invited to call beginning at 2 pm. A dinner reception will follow; details will be available at the service.