Gail Reid Hayden

Visitation for Gail Reid Hayden will be held Friday, January 6, 2023 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at M.J. Edwards F.H. Stage Road Chapel, 4445 Stage Road, Memphis, Tennessee 38128. A funeral will occur Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 11:00 AM at Morning Chapel MB Church, 8701 Trinity Road, Cordova, TN 38018. A burial will occur Saturday, January 7, 2023 at Morning Chapel MB Church, Cordova, TN 38018.

Gail Reid Hayden, 62, of Memphis, TN passed suddenly and unexpectedly on December 23, 2022. She was born in Cordova, Tennessee April 26, 1960, to Ora Lee Jackson and Curtis L. Byrd. Gail accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at an early age at Morning Chapel Missionary Baptist Church where she was a member her entire life. She was a graduate of Raleigh Egypt High School, and later attended Shelby State Community College (now Southwest Tennessee Community College) and Christian Brothers University.

She was united in marriage to William Dee Hayden, of that marriage, one child, Willdeéta Lovéta Hayden was born. Gail spent much of her time being a proud, devoted, and active mother. She served in various capacities over the years in causes that were near and dear to her heart. Some of her favorite activities in her early years as a mom were being involved in Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, The Mid-South Safe Kids Coalition, Sesame Street Prep, keeping Willdeéta involved in various extracurricular activities and being a room mother at Willdeéta’s elementary school, Keystone Elementary. As the years went by, she continued motivating her daughter and did not hesitate at any turn to share how proud she was of Willdeéta’s many accomplishments.

Later, Gail became a proud educator of the youth of Memphis, Tennessee. She served as an Instructional Assistant at Memphis City (now Memphis Shelby County Schools) first working at Spring Hill Elementary, then Snowden until she was later hired as a Montessori Instructor at Double Tree Elementary, where she spent the rest of her career until retirement in 2020. She took pride in being an educator and this is undoubtedly one of her greatest legacies.

After retirement, Gail delighted in serving as head of the Morning Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Seniors Ministry. During her time in this role, she lovingly referred to the Seniors Ministry as the “Savvy Seniors.” She had many hopes and dreams for the future of the Seniors Ministry, as this role was particularly important to her.

She was preceded in death by her grandfather and grandmother, who raised her, Wattie D. Reid Senior and Lovie B. Reid, her brother, Michael J. Jackson, and her mother and father Ora Lee Jackson and Curtis L. Byrd. Left to cherish her memory are her brother and sister, Dennis Reid of Chicago, IL and Jill Reid of Memphis, TN, her loving godmother, Patsey Lee King of Memphis, TN, who affectionately called her “my inheritance”, her beloved daughter, Willdeéta Lovéta Hayden and grand dog Beaux of Atlanta, GA and a host of nieces, nephews, former colleagues, family, and friends.