A cold beer, men in uniform, and a birthday wish come true

LYNNWOOD — She wants what most women want. And she isn’t afraid to ask for it.

For her 98th birthday, Hazel Hamor asked for a cold beer and a man in uniform.

As she sat in her wheelchair with a bottle of Blue Moon in hand, a police officer and two firefighters made surprise visits to her birthday party at her assisted-living home on Wednesday.

“Look at grandma,” Hamor said, grinning as she held her Belgian-style wheat beer. “This is what I needed.”

ManorCare of Lynnwood’s recreation director, Julie Garreis, threw Hamor a party after learning what she wanted for her birthday.

“Hazel is a character,” Garreis said. “We love her.”

Garreis arranged for her brother-in-law, a Washington State Highway Patrol officer, to stop by first. Motorcycle Officer Deion Glover donned his uniform on his day off for the occasion.

“Good thing I’m married, or I’d have to take you out,” Glover told Hamor.

She wore a silver crown with flashing red lights to her party. She held her beer in one hand and a scepter in the other as she chatted with the officer.

“I can’t talk, I’m getting so excited,” Hamor said, blushing. “Let me give you a kiss.”

Glover leaned down. Hamor gave him a smooch on the cheek. And then another.

The excitement didn’t end there. Larry Hadland and Greg Macke of the Lynnwood Fire Department also showed up in uniform to give Hamor a bouquet of flowers.

“She loves firemen. She’d always say, ‘They have the cutest little tushes,’” said her son, Bill Hamor. “I guess when you get old you can make comments about men’s derrieres.”

Five generations of the Hamor family came to the party.

Bill Hamor and his wife, Sally, came from San Luis Obispo, California.

Her daughter, Norene Lowery, of Lynnwood, also attended with more than a dozen other friends and family members. Several of Hamor’s six grandsons, 13 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren made it, too.

“It’s all family, even if you don’t like them,” Hamor joked.

She has quite a reputation for rich remarks made over the years. So much so that her friend, Carla Hubbard, also of Lynnwood, is writing a book on her life and her humor.

Hamor was born in Aztec, New Mexico. She attended school in Durango, Colorado. In 1935, she married Tony Hamor. The couple had two children. They lived in Arizona and California before moving to Lynnwood in 1976.

Tony Hamor worked for a telephone company while Hazel managed a five-and-dime store and a discount bread shop.

After her husband died in 1981, she bought a motorhome and traveled the country on her own for years.

Hamor always had an adventurous streak. She enjoyed water skiing and scuba diving.

“She’s done everything but jump out of an airplane,” said Lowery, her daughter.

Now, Hamor said, she’ll have to think of something to do for her 100th birthday.

That said, “Nobody could have a better birthday than this,” she said. “I just wanted to be happy. What else could you ask for?”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.