Lauretta May Hays | Obituaries
Brookside Funeral Home & Crematorium
LAURETTA MAY HAYS passed away peacefully on November 29, 2021 in Yakima, Washington. Lauretta May Hays was welcomed into the world on June 7, 1931 in Fruitland, Idaho, by John Joseph Driscoll and Anna Elizabeth Driscoll (Scholes). They raised her and her seven siblings in the Catholic faith. She was a very devout Catholic all her life and her love for the Lord carried her through good times and difficult times.
Lauretta Hays met the love of her life, Robert Levi Hays, in January 1951 and married on July 4, 1953 in Vancouver, Washington. Robert and Lauretta had three children: Michael Robert Hays (Ann Hays), Patricia Hays White (Robert White), and Bryan Joseph Hays (Sue Hays). Lauretta leaves behind her three children and six grandchildren: Mary Catherine White Pilon (Chris Pilon), the twins Katharine Anne White Chagnon (Jonathan Chagnon) and Caroline Marie White Honores (Daniel Honores), Megan Ann Hays, Patrick Michael Hays and Christina Nicole Hays, and eight great-grandchildren: Jaqueline Pilon, Harrison Pilon, Hailey Chagnon, Logan Chagnon, Emelia Honores, Edward Honores, Xavier Honores, and Angelique Honores.
She attended Fruitland Elementary Schools and graduated from Saint Theresa Academy, Boise, ID in 1949, where she studied shorthand and typescript. She excelled in these skills and worked for the Idaho Mining Association as secretary to Union Secretary Harry Marsh in Boise, Idaho.
Her sense of adventure and interest in travel inspired her next job as a stewardess at Frontier Airlines in 1952.
In 1953 she worked as the head nurse’s secretary at VA Barnes Hospital in Vancouver, Washington. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1954 and worked for Rue Lund, the general sales manager of Blitz Weinhard Brewery, who thought she was “the smartest person he has ever met.”
When her husband, a scheduled pilot, moved to a new airline, the couple moved to Seattle and she worked for Boeing as the secretary to the plant manager for the construction of their new aircraft, the 737. She was there when the first 737 rolled off the line and became delivered to Lufthansa Airlines.
The couple enjoyed camping with their three children, and during one such camping trip they discovered property in Potlatch, Washington on the Hood Canal and decided to buy it and build the Minerva Beach Mobile Village, an RV park. Lauretta commuted from Potlatch to Seattle daily for two years. When she drove through Olympia on the way to Seattle, she saw the dome of the Capitol Building and said, “I know there is a job for me there.” She was finally able to speak to Bill Jacobs’ secretary and was informed of a position to apply for, which was Secretary to the Republican Caucus. Norwood Cunningham hired her locally in December 1968. That job led Governor Daniel Evans to take notice of her and to hire her as his Executive Secretary in 1973. When Governor Evans became a US Senator, Daniel Evans Lauretta became the ombudsman for the Republican caucus. Senator Evans moved to Washington DC to set up his office there, but she chose to stay in Washington for her family and the Hood Canal business. After retiring from Washington State, she worked full-time running the business. After selling the business, the couple retired to warmer climates, tired from rainy winters, and enjoyed playing golf together.
She loved traveling all her life. A partial list of her trips includes France, Egypt, Italy, the Vatican, Medjugorje, Jordan, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Israel including the Holy Land, England, and crossing the Atlantic on Queen Mary II.
In her retirement, Lauretta was very involved in the Church. She was an active member of church choirs (she had a beautiful singing voice and wasn’t afraid to use it!), RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), young women chaplain and was involved in Professional Education Opportunities (PEO). Granting scholarships to young women. She blessed meals at Living Care in Yakima and was an active member of her choir.
She enjoyed reading. She also enjoyed and was known for her dancing and singing (often at the same time). Her husband, Robert, died before her on October 29, 1993. She missed him terribly when he mostly enjoyed dancing together.
Lauretta Hays was elegant, funny, and filled a room with her presence. She will miss her family, friends, and all of the many people she has touched in her fulfilled and fulfilled life very much.
In honor of Lauretta May Hays, a rosary and funeral service will be held at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Yakima, WA on Friday, July 8, 2022 at 9:00 am, followed by a reception in the church hall. Lauretta Hays was later interred with her immediate family in a funeral ceremony at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise, Idaho. Brookside Funeral Home takes care of the family. Reminders and condolences can be shared on www.brooksidefuneral.com.