Bill Hays

Funeral services for Willis Leonard “Bill” Hays, age 86, of Oakwood, Texas were held 2:00 pm, Friday, January 8, 2009 at the Walters Buffalo Funeral Home in Buffalo, Texas. Rev. Kevin Gilmore, pastor of Stewart Memorial United Methodist Church in Buffalo officiated and interment followed in the Keechi Cemetery. Walters Buffalo Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

Bill was born February 1, 1923 in Appleby, Texas to Paul Ferguson and Catherine Frances (Davis) Hays. When He got out of the service he worked for the Post Office delivering mail and papers in Houston. He then moved with his parents to the Keechi Community near Oakwood in 1945. He raised chickens, hogs, cows, and turkeys for many years as a young man and took care of other people’s chickens as well. Bill was on the Ship Saratoga which left Pearl Harbor the night before the Japanese bombed it. He married Billie Shaw July 27, 1955. He worked for Cadenhead feed store for several years. He retired in 1986 from the Buffalo ISD. He was maintenance director, and he drove the school bus for many years. He loved gardening, both flowers and vegetables, and he loved to fish and hunt. He loved carpenter work and Taxidermy. Bill passed away Tuesday, January 5, 2010 in Palestine, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents, and one sister,FrancesHenson Bill is survived by his wife, Billie Hays of Oakwood; one son and daughter in-law, Jerry and Barbara Hays of Oakwood; one daughter, Patricia Kilgore of Oakwood; one sister, Betty Case of Bedias; five grandchildren, Stephanie Lynn Wilson and husband, Allen of Buffalo, Nicole Renee Looney and husband, Kyle of Buffalo, Justin Arion Kilgore of Teague, Jerry W. “Bubba” Hays, Jr. “Bubba” of Oakwood, and Raina Marie Kilgore of Buffalo; five great grandchildren, Michelle Breann Hays, Toby Allen Wilson, Lance Taylor Wilson, Cody Lane Looney, and John Wyatt Looney.

The pallbearers were Ricky Nelson, Jonathan Schakel, Randy Grant, Dwayne Lacour, Charles Cadenhead, and Bill Vaughn. The honorary pallbearers were Andy McGuire, Sam Roach, Pleaze Ferguson, Bubba Flanary, Ernest Ferguson, Sr., Johnny Williams, Tom Davis, James Henson, David Ferguson, Randy Mullenax, Rondal Mullenax, Gondal Mullenax, Dennis Hartley, Fred Magouirk, Charles Fields, Lionel Barrilleaux, and Mack Ansley, Sr.