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Hazel Marie Hoyt Bickford, 88, of Cedarvale, NM, died peacefully on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at Senior Care in Los Lunas, NM. She was born September 12, 1917 in Junction City, KS, the daughter of the late James and Gertrude (Staehnke) Hoyt. Her family moved to Ontario, CA when she was 7. An able businesswoman, Hazel and her late husband, Fred Bickford, owned Bickford's Tire Sales in Ontario for 15 years. Hazel retired and left California at the age of 50 to attend the University of Oklahoma, then moved to her beloved New Mexico, where she lived a life of plucky independence for over 30 years in Albuquerque, Mountainair, Belen, and Cedarvale before her Parkinson's disease necessitated assisted living. Always concerned with politics, human progress and welfare, Hazel corresponded with people around the world who valued her ideas, and her incisive and unflinchingly honest sense of humor. She served on state boards for rural water, conservation and development, and programs for senior citizens, and authored many passionate and insightful letters to the editor. Hazel is survived by one daughter: Jane Bickford and her husband, Robert Pitt, Jr. of Bethel, CT; a grandson, Thomas Pitt and his wife, Claire of Nashville, TN; and a grandaughter, Margaret Pitt of Bethel, CT. She was predeceased in July by her brother, Dean Hoyt. The family will receive friends for a celebration of Hazel's life at her home in Cedarvale on November 6, 2005 at noon. Contributions in Hazel's memory may be made to the Belen Public Library, 333 Becker Avenue, Belen, NM 87002; the Ontario Public Library, 120 East D Street, Ontario, CA 91764; or the Bethel Public Library Capital Campaign, 189 Greenwood Avenue, Bethel, CT 06801.
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