Obituary of Hugh Harrison Hayes

Hugh Harrison Hayes, Jr., M.D., left this world on the evening of Friday, May 10, 2013, exactly as he wished to—at his beautiful home on the water with his wife, Imogene, by his side. A service to celebrate his extraordinary life will be held at 2:00 PM, Thursday, May 23, 2013, in the chapel of Hankins & Whittington Funeral Service. The family will receive guests immediately following the service. Hugh is survived by his wife, Imogene Hall Hayes, and all five of his children and their spouses: Hugh Harrison Hayes, III, and wife Teri, of Charlotte, NC; Heather Hayes Stancil, and husband, Jim, of Belmont, NC; Johanna Hayes Yale, and husband, Richard, of Houston, Texas; Timothy Furman Hayes of Dallas, Texas; and Marcus Edward Hayes, and wife, Meg, of Greensboro, NC. He is also survived by ten grandchildren, Hannah Hayes of Tampa, Florida; Sarah Hayes Reymann and her husband, Dan, of Charlotte, NC; Will Stancil of Minneapolis, MN; Benn Stancil of San Francisco, CA; Imogene Davis of Houston, Texas; Marc, Parker, and Caroline Hayes of Greensboro, NC; and Zachary and Davis Hayes of Dallas, Texas. The grandchildren will proudly serve as honorary Pallbearers. Hugh was born in Oliver Springs, Tennessee on July 15, 1926. He was one of six children born to Hugh Harrison Hayes, a coal miner and his Scotch-Irish wife, Gypsy McBee Hayes. Hugh outlived both his parents and five sisters, Althea, Caroline, Dorothy, Tommy, and Johanna. When he was nine, he decided he wanted to be a doctor, and pursued this goal with single-minded determination. He graduated from Middlesboro High School as Valedictorian in 1943, and then studied Pre-Med at University of Tennessee in Knoxville for one year before being drafted into the United States Marine Corp, where he spent most of his time in Officer's Training and Japanese Language schools. After being honorably discharged in October of 1945, Hugh resumed his undergraduate studies and received a B.S. in Medicine in 1946. He entered the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis, and it was here in 1947, that he walked into a coffee shop and met a beautiful red-haired nursing student, named Imogene. He had found the woman he called the "perfect companion." After graduating from medical school in 1949, he started a family practice in Wallins Creek, Kentucky, and on June 8, 1951, he married "Imo". After driving cross country on a six weeks long honeymoon to Mexico City, he brought his bride back to Wallins Creek. Hugh and Imogene practiced medicine together here where a day's work might include a horse-back ride up the mountain in the middle of the night to deliver a baby, only to have to rise early the next day to attend to victims of coal mine accidents or rabies outbreaks. Their first son, Hugh, was born in 1952, and the young family took off shortly thereafter to a vista as unlike the cold, harsh Kentucky mountains as any could be—Hawaii. It was a magical year, a year of hard work for Hugh as an intern at Queens Hospital, for Imogene as a nurse at Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynaecological Hospital , but it was also a year of breath- taking scenery, days spent on Waikiki beach, exotic drinks and food, and much happiness. The family returned to Kentucky and Hugh's practice at the end of the year, and their daughter, Heather, was born in 1955. In June of 1955, they moved to Baltimore for Hugh's Radiology Residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital where he was Board Certified in both Radiology and Nuclear Medicine; upon completion of his training, he worked at Johns Hopkins as both a staff radiologist and as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School. In 1960, the family- now larger by two (Johanna born in 1957 and Timothy born in 1958)- came to Charlotte where Hugh joined Mecklenburg X-Ray Associates at Presbyterian Hospital and where their last child, Marcus, was born in 1961. Hugh was named Chief Radiologist for Presbyterian Hospital in 1971, a position he held until 1987. Following a hemorrhagic stroke in late 1987, he retired from Presbyterian, but later resumed practicing medicine, most recently at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salisbury, NC, where he discovered a new calling caring for the many sick and old veterans who came into his kind and respectful care. In 1997, he and Imogene moved to Belmont, NC, where they built a beautiful and comfortable home on the Catawba River. Just as he did at all of his homes, Hugh created here an exquisite garden, including water features, winding paths, secret sitting places, and the roses that he loved so much. Hugh officially retired again, this time for good, at the age of 81 years old. Hugh spent his last day doing some of the things he loved best: reading, enjoying his porch overlooking the water, eating ice cream and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, painting, working on his novel, and most importantly to him for the last 62 years, spending time with Imogene. This day as all of his days since he suffered a stroke 26 years ago was a gift extraordinaire. On that day, the doctors declared that he would be dead before night was over. He gladly proved them wrong, and since then enjoyed practicing medicine, family weddings, the births of even more grandchildren, trips to France, Ireland, the mountains, and his home at Fripp Island, countless oyster roasts and shrimp burgers, a great deal of good wine, books and movies by the hundreds, attending Charlotte Hornets, Carolina Panthers, and UT football games, music from Chet Akins to Mozart, and countless other things, any one of which he would have declared made life worth living. His interests, curiosity, and intellect were all vast. He loved his Kindle and MacBook for the access to the world that they gave him; the day before he died he searched for information on the Pergamum Museum in Berlin and metal sculpture techniques. It would have taken him countless lifetimes to do all that he wanted, but twelve years ago on their 50th wedding anniversary; he wrote to Imogene that "Fate has smiled on us. We should be and are very grateful." The same is true for us all. For knowing and loving and having been loved by Hugh Harrison Hayes, Jr., we should be and are very grateful. Memorials may be made in Dr. Hayes's name to either the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (www.ovariancancer.org) or to the American Stroke Association (www.strokeassociation.org).