Larry Gene Hayes

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

MODESTO, Calif. -- Larry Gene Hayes, 77, died Sunday (Sept.15, 2002) at his home in Modesto, Calif.

He was born June 2, 1925, at McCook to Francil and Viola (Niccolson) Hayes. As a young man, he attended school in McCook to the eleventh grade and continued his education in Wauneta, graduating from Wauneta High School in 1943.

He was then inducted into the U.S. Army Air Corp. and served in the South Pacific during World War II. While serving in the Army Air Corp., he received his wings and was commissioned as an officer. After his discharge in 1946, he returned to the Wauneta area.

On Nov. 10, 1946, he married Donna E. Christner at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Wauneta. The couple traveled to Lincoln where he attended the University of Nebraska. He continued his education at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. where he received a degree in mine engineering in 1952. They then moved to Virginia, Minn. where he worked for U.S. Steel Company. The family traveled to many locations where he worked for mining companies in the United States and overseas. He retired at Oakland, Calif., in 1985. He was a member of the Smyrna Lodge AF&AM, the Ceres Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Moose Lodge.

He was preceded in death by his son, Larry G. Hayes, Jr. Survivors include his wife, Donna of Modesto; one son, Craig Hayes of Colorado Springs, Colo.; one brother, David "Ladd" Hayes and wife, Charlotte of El Segundo, Calif.; two sisters, Lois and husband, Clyde Hoff of Wauneta and Edith Thornton of Modesto; and seven grandchildren.

Graveside services were Saturday, 11 a.m., at Riverside Cemetery at Wauneta with the Rev. Michael Laing officiating. A memorial has been established in his memory.

Liewer Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.