Gwendolyn A. Hayes, 80
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Gwendolyn A. Hayes, 80, of Florence, formerly of Orange, died Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, in Northampton after a long struggle with cancer. She was the mother of State Police Lt. William C. Blackmer Jr. of North Adams.
Born in FitzWilliam, N.H., on Jan. 26, 1933, daughter of Oreste and Ethel Dunham Yon, she attended Orange High School.
Mrs. Hayes was a secretary in the comptroller's office at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for 31 years until her retirement in 1995.
She loved her home and family and spent many hours in her lovely gardens. She had an adventuresome spirit and enjoyed parachuting and horseback riding in her younger years. She was loved by all who knew her for her kind heart and wonderful smile.
She and her husband, Charles J. Hayes, were married July 25, 1969, in Northampton.
Besides her husband, and her son and his wife, North Adams City Councilor Lisa Hall Blackmer, she leaves a daughter, Diane Blackmer Levine of Greenfield and her husband, Bill; a stepson, Edward Hayes of Holliston and his partner, Sharon Sager; a stepdaughter, Kathleen Hayes Mattia of Framingham; a sister, Tina Johnson of St. Augustine, Fla.; six grandchildren, William Blackmer and his wife, Mary, of Weymouth, Jennifer Blackmer of North Adams, Christopher Mattia and his wife, Erica, of Lynnfield, Daniel Mattia and his wife, Beth, of Northborough, Alicia Hayes Morrison and her husband, Seth, of Marlborough, Caroline Hayes and her fiance, Harvey Harper, of Cardiff by the Sea, Calif., and eight great-grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her daughter Vicki Lynn Blackmer, her sister June Crynkovich and a nephew, Bernard Yon.
FUNERAL NOTICE - Services for Mrs. Hayes will be private and at the convenience of the family. Memorial donations can be made to the American Cancer Society, Relay for Life of Northern Berkshire, Team Lynda's Llamas.
Many thanks go out to the VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, the nursing staff at Calvin Coolidge Nursing Home and Mrs. Hayes' friend and neighbor, Linda Poole, for their loving care.