Obituary of William Joseph Hayes

HAYES - Mr. Bill Hayes, resident of Theodore, passed away peacefully and comfortably in the Yorkton Hospital on the morning of April 10, 2016, his wife of 52 years at his side. William Joseph Hayes was born on February 22, 1935 in the Conception Bay, Newfoundland community of Marysvale. He was the seventh child and first son of James and Alice Hayes, née Ghaney. He is survived by only two sisters: Elizabeth (Betty) Ender of Onalaska, WI; and Marie McCoy of Denver, CO. In birth order, his deceased sisters are Margaret, Anne, Alice, Helen, Bride and Kathleen. When Bill was barely fourteen years, his mother passed away after a battle with cancer. Soon after the loss of his mother, Bill went to live with his Uncle in Toronto, where he worked as a snow remover until moving west to British Columbia, finding work in the Vancouver Island coastal community of Tahsis. He spent a couple years working as a longshoreman, where the vast majority of his loading duties would have been wood products from the local Tahsis Lumber Company sawmill. In 1961 Bill moved to a boarding house on Fraser Street in Vancouver, BC, where he worked as a stripper, at which readers will obviously first recall the paper box manufacturing job of using an airgun to strip debris off the edges of paper cartons. The name of his company was Belkin Paper Box Co. In 1963 he met Elsie Rohatynsky, of Yorkton, SK, who was a coworker at Belkin. They became acquainted while carpooling together over a couple of months, after which they began to date. In April 1964 they were married in Yorkton, SK, having become engaged the Christmas before. His years of stripping behind him, in 1965 Bill began his long employment with Lawson Graphics. The newlyweds lived in Richmond, BC for four years before moving to nearby Surrey to live in the home that Elsie's father, Joseph Rohatynsky, built for them. It was only a year later they upgraded to become owners of a 6 unit apartment on 138th Street, also in Surrey where they occupied one unit and rented out the other five. In June 1972 their first child, Dennis William Hayes was born. In 1976 Bill returned to his Newfoundland home for the first and only time, where he introduced his young family to his father and his local family. Bill's father would remain at the family home until his death in 1980. As they planned for a larger family, Bill and Elsie sold their apartment in 1978, moving into a larger home in a new development closer to the district of Guildford. Two years later in January 1980, Kimberley Anne Hayes was born. While in this 141 A Street cul-de-sac home, Bill and Elsie raised their family through grade school and post secondary education. In 1997, Bill retired from his job after 32 years at Lawson Packaging Pacific when the company shut its doors. In 2004 as empty nesters, Bill and Elsie moved closer to Dennis and his new family in Alberta. After a brief return to Chilliwack, BC, Bill found the small town feel he was desiring in 2006 in Theodore, SK, a small bedroom community of Yorkton. Not only did this enable a preferred pace of life, it was closer to family, including Alexander and Bernice Mandzuk, Bill's sister in law and her husband. He would relish his role as a grandfather of three: Daphne (2001), Jocelyn (2003) and Maxine (2005). Bill remained in good health until May 2015, during a visit to Kelowna, BC. He became acutely ill and required emergency surgery for a perforation and infection of his colon. His recovery was progressing well until a major setback in October, when he suffered a stroke. It was after this event that his body and spirits began to deteriorate more rapidly, and after a debilitating brain infection in March 2016, his body finally succumbed. Prayer services were held on Thursday evening April 14th 2016 from St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church, Yorkton. Fr. Francis Hengen officiated, the Lector was Daphne Hayes & son Dennis gave a tribute. The pianist, Lorraine Lysak led members of St. Gerard's Parish Choir and the congregation in the singing of the hymns 'Glory & Praise to Our God', Psalm 116, and 'How Great Thou Art'. The Funeral Mass was celebrated on Friday morning, April 15th 2016 from St. Gerard's Church with Fr. Hengen as Celebrant. The crossbearer was Jocelyn Hayes, the Lectors were Maxine Hayes and Kim Hayes, and the Gift-bearers were Jocelyn and Maxine Hayes. Pianist, Chris Fisher led the parish Choir in the singing of the hymns 'Amazing Grace', Psalm 40, 'I Know That My Redeemer Lives', 'The Lord is My Hope', 'Song of the Angels', and 'Sing A New Song'. The interment took place in the Yorkton City Cemetery with Dennis Hayes, Matt Greig, Kim Mandzuk, Dave Rohatynsky, gene Denischuk and William Oystryk serving as the casketbearers. Condolences can be left at baileysfuneralhome.com Memorials were to St. Gerard's Building Fund. Service Information Thursday, April 14th, 2016 7:00pm, St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church Friday, April 15th, 2016 10:00am, St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Church Interment Details Yorkton City Cemetery