Hazel Scott Schamp

Graveside services for lifelong Mancos resident Hazel Scott Schamp will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Mancos, CO. Mr. Joe Tanner will officiate.
Hazel Scott Schamp was born in Guthrie, TX on May 10, 1922 to Edgar Soloman Scott and Grace Truman Stocking. Hazel and her older sister, Edna, were raised on the 6666 Ranch, which was the largest ranch in Texas at the time. She told us many stories of how much she enjoyed going on the cattle drives and her life on the ranch. She also loved to tell us stories of her dad and how he would always make everyone around him feel welcome and happy with a joke and a smile. They moved to Farmington, New Mexico when she turned 13 and her dad went to work for the state of New Mexico. Hazel married the love of her life, Rea John Schamp, when they were 17 years old. They had five children together; Connie, Tony, Terry, Maureen, and Johnny.
During WWII, Hazel did her part in the war effort by becoming a welder on the navy ships in California. She was our very own “Rosy the Riveter.”
Before she and Rea started a family together, she joined a women’s softball league as the team pitcher. Her team won the New Mexico State Championship, earning them a trip to Washington DC. Years later, a story of her softball team’s accomplishments was included in the Farmington, New Mexico city museum.
After seven years of marriage, Rea and Hazel welcomed their first child. They raised their family for many years on the reservations while Rea ran trading posts. Hazel delivered mail around the reservation. She also drove her station wagon as a reservation school bus to help make sure the kids had a ride to school. When their children got older, Hazel moved them to Farmington, New Mexico and then Mancos, Colorado so the kids could attend better schools. All five children graduated from Mancos High School.
Hazel worked at The Hogan in Mancos for many years. Each of Terry and Laura’s newborn children stopped on their way home from the hospital to see Mrs. Brimhall, who Hazel became close friends with while they worked together at the Hogan.
In her 60’s, Hazel decided to become a beautician. She attended beauty school at Vo-Tech. She started her career working with her daughter Maureen and enjoyed 10 more years as a beautician.
In her 70’s, she went on a mission trip through the Mormon Church. She spent 12 months in South Carolina on her mission trip.
Hazel was uniquely independent for a woman of her time. If she decided she wanted to accomplish something, she would just do it. To know Hazel was to love her. She inherited her dad’s welcoming, happy, and friendly personality. She never met a stranger; she could strike up a conversation with anyone. She touched so many lives in her 99 years here with us. She would run into people she knew all over the area and loved visiting with each one of them.
Above all, Hazel loved her family. She found such joy in holding a baby and spending time with her kids and grandkids. She loved to camp with family, travel, and play games. She always brought fun and laughter to whatever she was doing. Hazel seemed to never really “grow old” until she was in her late 90’s. She was even still playing volleyball in the yard with family when she was well into her 80’s. She would hop in her car and take a road trip to visit someone any time the notion struck her. She was an excellent example for all of us and taught each one of us so much through her stories and words of advice.
Hazel passed away on June 26, 2021 at the age of 99. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister, husband, and two children, Tony and Maureen. She is survived by three children, Connie (George) Bates, Terry (Laura) Schamp, and Johnny (Becky) Schamp, seven grandchildren, 29 great grandchildren, and 23 great-great-grandchildren.
Hazel will be greatly missed but as Hazel herself put it, we are not saying goodbye, only “I will see you soon.”