VINCENT
THOMAS HAYES
VINCENT THOMAS HAYES died at his home in Honolulu on October 19, 2010, at the age of 94. The son of Thomas Robert Hayes and Mary Hennessey Hayes, Vincent was born on April 2, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York. The family soon moved to Baldwin, Long Island. Headstrong and independent, Vincent left home at fourteen and made his way to Palm Beach, Florida, where he found work at a tennis club. Back in New York in 1936, he met and married 17-year-old Diana Pappas, a Greek immigrant. The couple initially lived in Queens, where daughter Katherine was born in 1937, and son Thomas Robert in 1940. In 1942, the family moved to New Hyde Park, Long Island. In 1943, Vincent was drafted into the US Navy, and was part of a landing craft infantry stationed in the South Pacific for the duration of WWII.
Upon return, Vincent found work in the Bell Helicopter Division of Textron Industries. He was also a member of the New Hyde Park Volunteer Fire Department, and actively involved as a Boy Scout leader. Vincent and Diana had a second son, Allen Andrew, in 1947. Throughout his life, Vincent was a proud member of the VFW.
After Diana's death in 1962, Vincent moved to Miller Place, Long Island. He also traveled widely, throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States; as he was fond of telling his grandchildren, he'd been to all fifty of them. He also kept in peak physical condition, running marathons and downhill skiing well into his 70s. He was also an avid sailor, and in his later years, spent much of his time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico before settling permanently in Honolulu.
His wife, and his sisters, Muriel and Florence, predecease Vincent. In addition to his three children, Kathy Hayes of Brooklyn, NY, Thomas Hayes of Clifford Township, PA, and Allen Hayes of Safety Harbor, FL, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren survive him.
Services in Honolulu will be private.
Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased
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