Obituary: Dorothy Hayes, 93, Of Westport

Information via Shaughnessy Banks (Fairfield)

Dorothy Elizabeth Devore Hayes, 93 of Westport, the beloved wife of the late Edward L. Hayes, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 20, 2021. She was born in Fairfield to the late Stephen and Elizabeth (Roscoe) Devore who, sadly, both died before Dorothy was 20.

As a child, Dorothy lived with her parents and siblings in the family-owned Devore’s Bakery building in Fairfield. The family eventually built and moved into a house on Beaumont Street, across the street from the bakery. Devore’s was especially known for its jelly doughnuts and crullers. Dorothy enjoyed working there during her high school and college years and was a lifelong lover of pastries and bakeries.

She attended St. Thomas School and sang in the Children’s Choir at St. Thomas Church. She graduated from Roger Ludlowe High School where she played badminton, baseball, basketball, and volleyball and competed on the school’s field hockey and swim teams. She enjoyed swimming at Penfield Beach and playing the clarinet, singing, acting, and going mushroom hunting with her father.

She attended St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford, where she enrolled in a pioneer nursing program that condensed five years of education and training into four and culminated with an R.N. and a B.S. in nursing. Her post-graduate work included specializing in pediatric nursing at Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., followed by a six-month stint working at Georgetown University Hospital and, later, working on the pediatrics floor at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport.

Her work life also included geriatric nursing, psychiatric nursing, and factory nursing. During some summers, she worked as a camp nurse and enjoyed inviting her young grandchildren to spend time at the camp with her.

She spent the greater part of her career working as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and Supervisor at Hall-Brooke Hospital in Westport and retired from there at age 70.

She loved her home at 5 Kirock Place in Westport, where she resided for 64 years and enjoyed taking her grandchildren to nearby beaches in the summers.

Dorothy is survived by her two sons, Lawrence Hayes and his wife, Victoria, of Pawling, NY and Timothy Hayes and his wife, Kathleen Deters-Hayes, of Syracuse, NY; her two daughters, Kathleen Hayes and her husband, James Dixon, of Fort Collins, CO, and Theresa Garvin and her husband, Timothy, of Sudbury, MA. She will also be missed by nine loving grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In addition to her husband, Dorothy was predeceased by her brother, Stephen Devore, and sisters, Mary Melnick and Alma Palmer.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 10 a.m. at St. Luke Church in Westport. Interment will follow in St. Thomas Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Dorothy's memory to American Diabetes Association, PO Box 7023, Merrifield, Virginia 22116-7023, https://www.diabetes.org/donate/donate-in-honor.