Mass of Christian Burial for 92-year-old Opal Hayes of Windom, Minnesota, will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 4, 2017, at St. Francis Catholic Church in Windom. The church is located at 532 17th Street.
Visitation will be at the church the day of the service from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
LaCanne Family Funeral Service of Windom is handling the arrangements.
Opal Hayes passed away on Tuesday afternoon, January 31, 2017, at the Good Samaritan Society-Sogge Memorial in Windom.
Opal Hayes was born on August 14, 1924, in Amboy Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota, the daughter of the late John and Alma (Golien) Albright. She attended country school in Jeffers, Minnesota.
On December 6, 1941, she was united in marriage to Lawrence “Buck” Hayes in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They were married for 58 years. They farmed and raised five children in Delton Township, Cottonwood County, near Comfrey, Minnesota. Opal worked for many years at the Comfrey Fairway Foods Store and after a move to Windom, she worked at the Jim Miller Shoe Store. She enjoyed those years serving and socializing with the community residents.
Buck died on August 6, 1999. After his death, Opal remained in her home in Windom until becoming a resident of the Good Samaritan Society-Sogge Memorial in Windom in 2010.
Opal was a longtime member of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Windom and was a foster grandparent. She also was a Red Hatter and received the Mayor’s Medal of Honor for “Schools and Education’ from the City of Windom in 2001.
Opal’s joy was found in her family and friends and watching her grandchildren grow up. She enjoyed filling her home with large family gatherings, playing cards, having tea with her family and neighbors, cooking a great meal, gardening, sewing, dancing and attending sales and auctions. Opal was a sports fan, especially of the Minnesota Twins and kept a record of the scores for each game for many years.
Opal is survived by her two sons, Stephen (Carol) Hayes of Comfrey and Warren (Betsy) Hayes of Elephant Butte, New Mexico; two daughters, Teresa (Alan) Pudenz of Jeffers and Cecelia (Lynn) Krueger of Hudson, Wisconsin; daughter-in-law, Alice Hayes of Mountain Lake, Minnesota; one sister, Beulah Olson of Minneota, Minnesota; 11 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, “Buck” Hayes; son, Jerome (Jerry) Hayes; two brothers, Alto Albright and Maylon Albright and great-granddaughter, Alexa Konz.