Michael C. Hayes

With great sadness we report the sudden passing of Michael C. Hayes on August 21st, two days shy of his seventy-third birthday. Michael was born to Miriam F. (Comfrey) Hayes and Robert F. Hayes of Scituate, and was the youngest of eight children. Infected with the polio virus during the last surge of the epidemic in the United States in the summer of 1955, Michael began a lifelong battle with the disease, which he fought with a quiet dignity. Michael walked with crutches and braces for sixty-seven years, inspiring all that were lucky enough to have known him. Michael graduated from Thayer Academy, class of 1968, and took great pride in being the statistician of its 1964 undefeated, untied, unscored upon, championship football team. Michael’s love for sports would stay with him throughout his life. He graduated from Boston College in 1972 and Suffolk Law School in 1975, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. As a third-generation attorney, Michael practiced for a time with his cousin John Hayes and with his brother Joe Hayes, and served as an Assistant District Attorney for Plymouth County. After spending some of his most cherished years traveling the country and living in California with his family, Michael returned to practice law in Scituate. For over twenty-five years, Michael would climb the two flights of stairs to his Front Street office. Believing that the practice of law was a public profession and that he was a public servant, Michael helped those in need. Michael practiced law up until the day he passed, touching many with his compassion, tact, and legal expertise.

Michael was an active member of the Scituate Community and well known by many. As a past chairman and member of the Scituate School Committee for nearly forty years, Michael proudly served the town he loved. Michael also volunteered countless hours to coaching his children’s baseball and basketball teams, teaching young boys and girls the fundamentals of the game, throwing batting practice, and hitting ground balls. A devoted family man, Michael would do anything for his children and was always there to offer his support. He never missed a game, practice, recital, or special event.

Michael had a great love for music and later in life learned to play the piano under the tutelage of his dear friend Vickie Janelle. He also found a community he deeply appreciated in the First Trinitarian Congregational Church in Scituate and served as the Church’s moderator.

Michael was most proud of his children, for whom he would do anything. He is survived by children Patrick Hayes and his wife Nancy of Scituate, Lucy Nesbet of Marshfield, and Fred Hayes of Scituate, and was father to the late Heidi Hayes of Scituate. He was also the brother of Nancy Sweetser of Verona, New Jersey, Robert Hayes of Duxbury, Ellen Hayes of Scituate, Joseph Hayes and his wife Kathleen of Scituate, Elizabeth Schrader and her husband Scott of Aiken, South Carolina, Michael’s twin sister Patricia Gordon and her husband Richard of Barrington, Rhode Island, and the late Susann Hoke of Shillington, Pennsylvania. He is also survived by his beloved granddaughters Chelsea, Lena, June, Iris, and Willow, by his former wife Judy Mulcahy of Scituate, and by many nieces and nephews and their children. Finally, he leaves countless loving friends and associates.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, August 30 at 11:00 AM at the First Trinitarian Congregational Church, 381 Country Way, Scituate, MA, with a reception to follow in the church hall. Visiting hours are on Tuesday, August 29, from 4-8 PM at Richardson-Gaffey Funeral Home, 382 First Parish Road, Scituate, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Michael’s memory may be made to the Scituate Etrusco Associates, 1 Common Street, Scituate, MA 02066; Scituate Friends of Music, PO Box #800, Scituate, MA 02066; or to another charity of your choice benefiting Scituate causes.