Randall Alfred Hayes

Randall Alfred Hayes, born on February 8, 1947 in Dayton, Ohio, passed away on July 5th in Mobile, Alabama. Randall was preceded in death by his parents, Robert Gilrie Hayes and Sarah Jane Fulton Hayes, sister Holly (Danny) Hallock, son Aaron Hayes, and niece Sonya Andersen. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Cathy Veitch-Hayes, brother Rod (Sarah) Hayes, sisters Heather (Perry) Hughey and Sally (Gary) Hess, son Nathan Hayes; grandchildren Margaret Anne Hayes and Nathan Jonah Hayes; nieces and nephews: Rob, Tommy, and Peter Hayes; William and Winston Hallock; Matt Hughey, Shannon Maynard and Megan Kenney. He was dearly loved by Cathy’s side of the family - Nancy and Joe Hand and family, Vicky Wolfe and family, F.J. and Kathy Eicke and family and his late in-laws, Violet and Robert Veitch. Randall’s enthusiasm for life was contagious and he lived life to the fullest. He was kind, generous, positive, enthusiastic and could always find a way to get things done. He loved meeting people, never met a stranger, always had something in common with everyone he met, and always took the time to visit with friends and family. He was very creative, could build anything, a fabulous cook, a great story-teller and world traveler. Randall begin his museum career after taking on the development of a museum project in the Navy (they always said don’t volunteer for anything but Randall volunteered for everything). He took the position of Historian and Assistant Curator of the Naval Amphibious Museum at NAB Little Creek Navy Base in Norfolk, VA. After the Navy, Randall moved to Birmingham and worked at the University of Alabama in Birmingham as the curator of the Art Gallery. He met Cathy there who was also working in the Department of Art. After getting married they moved to Huntsville where he was the Assistant Director of the Huntsville Museum of Art. Always ready for the next adventure, he accepted the position of Director at the Insights Science Museum in El Paso and they took off with everything they owned in a U-Haul plus two Saint Bernards and a cat and no place to live when they got there. Everything worked out and they loved living in El Paso. He was continually sought after by other museums for his inventiveness - taking the position of Director at the Abilene Fine Arts Museum (Abilene,TX), Sierra Nevada Museum of Art (Reno, NV), Brevard Art Center and Museum (Melbourne, FL), Durham Western Heritage Museum (Omaha, NE), then back to the border to Insights, New Mexico Museum of Space History (Alamogordo, NM) and lastly, Kern County Museum (Bakersfield, CA). His exhibitions were unique, creative and presented in ways that brought them to life. Some of his exhibitions included: Titanic, Diana’s Dresses, and Russian Icons. Although Diana’s Dresses was slated only to go to major cities, Randall did not take no for an answer - his tenacity brought the spectacular exhibition to Omaha and their attendance was only second to Toronto’s. After a trip to Florida for the annual “Veitch-Eicke” beach week, Randall and Cathy decided to move back to Alabama. They bought a historic home in Oakleigh in 2012 and began renovating it. Randall loved Mobile, Mardi Gras, Oakleigh and his great neighbors and friends. He was the creator of “Great Chefs of Oakleigh” a fundraiser for the Oakleigh neighborhood. Randall was deeply loved by his family and friends. He was the love of Cathy’s life and her true soul mate. She found him to be the most fascinating person she had ever met. Randall loved animals especially Saint Bernards and adopted older Saints. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite animal rescue organization or to the American Cancer Society. A celebration of Randall’s life will be held at a later date in Mobile.