Mary Lou Hayes

The women’s shoe and handbag departments at a many stores are saddened today.  Mom decided to quit shopping here on earth and try out the shops in heaven.   We are guessing she’ll be giving a few fashion tips to the rest of the angels and try to add a splash of color up there!  Somehow we are thinking she will still prefer a great pair of heels to wings…..

Mom was born May 19, 1933, in Salt Lake City to Walter H. and Lucille H. Barber.  She lived in Woods Cross with her parents and two sisters, one older and one younger, Ruth and Carol, until 1945 when the family moved to California.

Fast forward to 1953.  She married James H. Hayes on October 1, in the Salt Lake City Temple.  They lived in Arizona for two years while dad was in the army, stationed in Yuma.  They moved back to California where they stared their family and then moved to Utah in 1971, settling in Farmington.

Mom loved us!  Always.  No matter what and we loved her!  She was always there for us and supported us.  Sometimes her eyes were rolling, but she was there.  We could not have asked for a kinder, more loving, gentle, sweetheart of a mother.  She was a great example of how we should live.  She was always ready to help serve others.  Mom was always prayerful and grateful (even said her prayers as she laid in the hospital).  We never heard a bad word about anyone, family, or friend.  Mom was a good sport and willing to do just about everything she was asked of her.  She dressed up for Halloween and sat through movies she didn’t necessarily want to see just so she could be with us.  She danced on a stage a few times, slept begrudgingly in a tent, and took part in a Mountain Dew drinking contest with her cousins.  She happily wandered the streets and casinos in Las Vegas until 2:00am and did not complain (probably because some shops were still open).  She rode Space Mountain once with her sister.  Once was enough!  She ate sushi occasionally.  She went to a lot of concerts.  Mom had been known to be a semi-willing patron at a tanning salon and she has sat in freezing cold weather watching bobsled races.  But she always had fun and was always in the perfect outfit and shoes to match every occasion!  If it was dipped in chocolate, wrapped in bacon, or smothered in cheese, she like it.  If you had barbecue sauce to go with it, even better!  A chicken enchilada and a hot fudge sundae with extra hot fudge automatically put a smile on her face.  She is a true chocoholic in every sense of the word!  She loved her politics.  And we won’t say any more about that!  Dinner at mom’s was an event, not a meal!   It is rumored that she turned down three marriage proposals from Tom Selleck.  She wanted to be just friends.  The restraining order is still in place after 29 years.

Mom had many friends throughout her life.  Girlfriends from schools she has known and kept in touch with for over 70 years.  She made great friends that are more like family in the neighborhood over the past fifty years, all of whom she loved and adored.  She decided to put herself in charge of the seating on the left side of the chapel during church meetings for about eight years.  She controlled several benches, and everyone knew it, but they also accepted it and respected it.  If Mary ain’t happy, ain’t nobody going to be happy!

Jim passed away in 1991 and Sherry, the middle kid out of the three, passed away in 2017.  Now in 2021 with mom passing, after fighting an oil rig fire in the Gulf of Mexico, it leaves LuAnn and Steve behind, broken-hearted.

We are blessed to have people in our lives who love mom and who love us and have been with us and comforted us the past few days.  Mom loved you all!  She spoke constantly of all the dinners, birthdays, phone calls, trips to the malls, walks, parties, movies, hot fudge sundae runs (sometimes after church) and vacations that you participated in with her and the genuine love she felt from you and for you.

We are so grateful for mom and her love and the things she taught us.  And because of her we turned out to be the slightly above mediocre adults that we are today.  There is no doubt in our minds she loved us, and we know we couldn’t have loved her any more than we did.  We will miss her every day!

A viewing will take place on Tuesday, September 21, at Russon Brothers in Farmington between 6-8pm.  And a graveside service will be on Wednesday, September 22, at 11am located at the Bountiful City Cemetery.  Instead of flowers, go get a hot fudge sundae for yourself.