Grace W. Hayes

Grace W. Hayes, 99 of Mesa, Arizona and formerly of Rangely, Colorado, passed away October 4, 2014. She was born on August 2, 1915 to Andrew and Minette Weaver. Grace graduated from New Castle High in New Castle, Wyoming. She was married to Ralph Raymond Hayes on July 4, 1935 in Leftbridge, Canada.

Ralph & Grace were owners with their son Jerry of Twin Arrow Drilling in the oil & gas production in Rangely. They also owned the big three story hotel in town, Twin Arrow Motor Lodge, which supplied rooms for many visitors to the community as well as a place for many local sheep herders to stay. They later brought in the towns Montgomery Ward Store where their sons Jerry & Stan and daughter-in-law Loyann worked serving the Rangely area. She also worked for the United States Post Office in Rangely, Colorado and went on to be the postmaster in Dinosaur, Colorado before retiring.

Grace enjoyed traveling. She went with friends & family to places like Spain, Hawaii, Mexico, and with the Colorado Welcome Center to most of Colorado. She went often to Wyoming and Nebraska to visit family members. Grace was the last of three sisters & one brother.

Grace enjoyed doing philanthropic work through her sorority as a lifetime member, Epsilon Chi #1836 and the Rangely Chapter of Eastern Star. She was also a member of the Rangely Christian Church, a recent member of the East Mesa Christian Church, as well as a volunteer at Colorado Welcome Center in Dinosaur, Colorado where she logged in over 1000 hours. She & Ralph and her sons also helped with bringing in the Rangely College in 1962, now known as Colorado Northwestern Community College to provide higher education to the children of the Rangely area. They made many donations to the oil & gas program as well as the flight program. Because of their dedication to these programs, the building at the Rangely Airport was dedicated to the family and is known as the “Hayes” building. Currently the college main campus is in Rangely with a satellite campus in Craig.

Grace enjoyed her grandchildren. Many evenings were spent playing pinochle with family and in later years she enjoyed a game of Skip-Bo. She loved having family over for a Sunday meal or just stopping by for her fresh cooked oatmeal cookies and a visit. She loved working in her yard planting flowers, roses, and a garden. She may have been the only one in Rangely to grow a Peach tree and grapes, which she made jellies out of to give to people. Some of her best jelly was chokecherry, which she picked the berries up on Douglas Pass for.

Grace is preceded in death by her husband Ralph (1994) and her son Jerry (2010). She is survived by her son Stan; her daughter-in-law Loyann; her grandchildren Beckey (John), Mike (Tracy), Beth (Cleve), Katreena (Jeff), Doug (Cindi), Dirk (Carla) ; her great-grandchildren John (Willi), Jaime (Corey), Laurie (Terry), Shelby, Hillary, Courtney, Alyssa, Keaton, Kalab, Lindsay (Brandon), Lesli (Heath), Krysten, and Kelli as well as her great-great-grandchildren Skyler, Landon, Camron, Chloe, Casey, Adywen, Alyssa and Brennon. A Celebration of Life will be held for Grace at 2:00 PM Saturday, October 11, 2014 at The Rangely Christian Church in Rangely, Colorado. Please visit www.melchermission.com to share memories and leave condolences.