Community mourns Mayor Ren Hatt

Ren Hatt (1985-2025 ) enjoying a meal at Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah on a very special day in 2021 with life partner Maria Sykes. (photo by Maria Sykes)

by Kenny Fallon Jr.

People across the Green River area and far beyond are grieving the death of beloved and widely-respected Green River Mayor Ren Hatt, who also helped manage his family’s gamebird ranch, taught myriad subjects at Green River High School, and stepped in when needed in several other roles, such as umpire, coach, game announcer, local board member, and meat smoker for community events. Hatt, who turned 40 this past April, was killed in a car crash on Friday, December 5, when an eighteen-wheeler truck drifted over the centerline and collided head-on into the car Hatt was driving. The crash reportedly occurred just before 9:45 PM near mile marker 296 on U.S. highway 6, just north of the interchange with I-70, a little over eight miles west of the home he shared with his fiancée and life partner Maria Sykes in central Green River. The truck driver is reported to be unharmed and is not suspected to have been impaired, although the Utah Department of Public Safety continues to investigate.

Hatt’s funeral will be held Saturday, December 13, 2025 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ Green River Ward Building at 11 AM, with visitation at 9:45 AM. The interment will be at Elgin Cemetery and a luncheon will follow at the Green River Ward Cultural Hall.

The day following the crash, the City released a statement that in part reads, “Mayor Hatt loved this community deeply, and he served it with honesty, kindness, and unwavering commitment. We are grieving alongside his family, friends, and all who knew him.” City Councilor Bo Harrison is serving as Acting Mayor. Later in the day Green River High School invited everyone in town to the basketball games, waiving ticket fees and encouraging all in attendance to “wear a beanie to honor Mr. Hatt”. The school gym filled with hundreds of people wearing beanies and posters memorializing him. Afterwards, students joined with the Follow the Flag organization and planted dozens of American flags along Main Street in Hatt’s honor.

Hatt was born and raised in Green River, and counted himself lucky for all the opportunities he had growing up. In Epicenter’s Sounds of Green River project (narrated by Hatt and other locals, referred to hereafter as SGR) he said “It’s difficult for me to think of home without thinking about the ranch. It’s where I learned how to work, it’s where I learned how to use a shovel, it’s where my grandpa caught a hawk with his bare hands out of the air once”.

As a kid, he frequently starred in plays and musicals, including playing Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and won accolades for his acting and singing talent all throughout his schooling. In addition to his artistic pursuits, he excelled as an athlete and leader, making the all-state baseball team, winning several debate competitions, writing a student column with verve for the Emery County Progress newspaper, and serving as student president in high school. In 2003, a student was quoted in the Progress saying, “Ren has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of our school through the office of student body president.”

He seemed to carry this same spirit and discipline for the rest of his life, making a lasting impression throughout college at Utah Valley University in Orem, law school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and during his time in Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee, in Utah, and elsewhere.

Shortly after moving back to his hometown as an adult, he decided he would do anything he could to make Green River as nice as place as he was raised in. Over the years, he taught Language Arts, Journalism, Theater, Criminal Justice, Debate, and much more at the high school, and in 2021 ran for mayor (in part taking up the family mantle of public service: his grandfather Rey Lloyd Hatt served as Green River mayor for 18 years and his father Royd Hatt has served on the Emery County School Board for 36 years so far). In each area of life, Ren Hatt seemed committed to what he saw as the typical Green River ethic, where “we work really hard at doing something right” (SGR).

His first term as mayor saw many successes, big and small, that have prepared the town for growth and energized many locals to revive a community spirit and sustainable economy. He met with all kinds of people during his bimonthly Mayor’s office hours, saying “I’m amazed at how many different opinions can fit in a town so small” (SGR). This past November, he won re-election by a wide margin (see page 5 for more details) and was eager to see through the momentum gathering in Green River.

In SGR he talked about how much he liked living in Green River: “If I had my druthers, the perfect day for me in Green River is in summer: I want to get out to [Swasey’s] beach early, I want to sit at the beach in a nice portable chair, I want to read a book until it gets a little bit too hot, and then I want to come back and eat something in town, and then I want to sit in the air conditioning or go down to [Green River] state park and put my legs in the river and wait until dinner rolls around”.

This perfect day would be a large contrast to his near-constant busy-ness helping others. He wanted to do his best so that people growing up in Green River today have a similar chance to stay and thrive in such a special place.

In an essay for Epicenter’s book Why This Place, Hatt reminisced about what he felt was an idyllic childhood here. The following reflection from that essay could also describe the community he recently left: “I was everyone’s friend and they were mine--I recognized every face in every filled seat at every event. Green River was a town that may not have been rich, but we were wealthy because we supported one another”.

[Ed: In the course of making this newspaper, I was able to see Ren in two different professional roles: as a politician and as a teacher. I think he was both most of the time. He was direct and honest, looked for the potential in everyone, pushed for open and transparent governance, and always had the interests of Green River in the back of his mind. He would explain dry, complicated issues clearly and without condescension and took people seriously. He was also a silly guy who loved to riff and shoot the shit. Outside of this newspaper, I’m lucky to be one of many to have considered him a friend and I miss him.]

Ren Hatt in 2025 after performing as a Monarch caterpillar in the Milkweed Parade and play. (photo by Zoe Gardner)

Ren Hatt preparing to campaign for re-election in a Hatt Ranch kei truck packed with twinkies during the 2025 Melon Days parade. (photo by Maria Sykes)

Ren Hatt in 2024 celebrating life partner and fiancée Maria Sykes’ fortieth birthday at Carboy Winery in Palisade, Colorado. (photo by Kenny Fallon Jr.)

Ren Hatt in 2025 performing his go-to karaoke song, “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen at Epicenter’s most recent Summit. (photo by Sandra Salvas)

Ren Hatt in 2002 after being awarded Academic All State in Baseball. (Emery County Progress archive photo)

Ren Hatt getting sworn in as mayor of Green River City in 2022. (photo by Maria Sykes)