HAYES, William “Bill”

WILLIAM “BILL” GEORGE HAYES February 25, 1940 – November 6, 2025 Bill was born, the eldest of two boys, to Joseph and Mary (yes, those were his parents’ actual names) in 1940 on a farm outside Brandon, Manitoba. He learned to work hard at an early age when he became the man of his family at 12 years old after his dad was placed in the sanitarium (due to a suspected case of TB). The next 7 years convinced Bill the farm life wasn’t for him and when he was 19, he moved to Regina where two very important things happened: he became a lifelong Riders fan and he met Lorraine. Or maybe more accurately, where he was pursued by Lorraine. She set her sights on ‘Billy Hayes’ after seeing him in his baseball uniform in the bar she was working at. After many nights of dancing and socializing, they decided to relocate to Lethbridge and were married in 1970 which is where the rest of his story took place.
Bill and Lorraine went on to have two daughters, Angie and Lorie. Bill worked in Electrical wholesale and after accidentally realizing he and Lorraine had a knack for upholstery (when they recovered their own couch) they started A & L Upholstery and worked side by side for many years. Because of this new trade, Bill was tagged with the nickname Tack Hammer by one of his many friends. He earned a much more important nickname ‘Papa’ when his first grandchild was born in 1995 and some other versions of that name developed over the years from his 5 other grandkids (Poppy, Pop, Big Poppy Pump).
Growing up, Angie and Lorie’s house was the house where all the friends gathered and Bill was a parental figure to every kid that hung out at his house. He knew class schedules, was the chauffeur and always seemed to have an endless supply of corny jokes. Then there was a sort of deja vu when it happened all over again with his grandkids. So many people Angie and Lorie grew up with have ‘Bill’ stories and so many friends of their kids have ‘Pop’ stories because their house was the house where everyone was welcome.
Bill was an avid sports fan (go Riders), music lover (especially George jones), movie burner, collector of hats, tapes, books, tools, was extremely particular about tidiness. He was especially particular about his appearance (even at the end smoothing down his hair in the hospital bed) but most of all he was ‘family over everything’.
Bill developed dementia and due to the cruel disease, at the end he couldn’t remember names but he always knew his people – you could see it in the way his face would light up when he’d see you. But hey, ‘we’re all gonna’ go sometime’ (which is something he would say).
Bill wasn’t flashy or loud: he often sat quietly watching the chaos of his family, throwing in the occasional ‘Poppy joke’, but he was the rock and the rockstar of his family. It turns out you can have an extraordinary life by just consistently doing ordinary things and doing them with kindness, honesty and love. His tag line was ‘Stay positive’ and said it right until the end.
William George Hayes: aka Bill, Billy Boy, Billonious, Bill-under-the- stairs, Tack Hammer, Papa Hayes, Papa, Pop, Poppy, and Big Poppy Pump is survived by his adoring wife Lorraine, Brother Sid, Daughters Angie (Johnny) and Lorie (Dan), and his 6 grandkids: Tyson, Jaydan, Chad, Hunter, Dawson and Maddox.
A private ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 15th, 2025 where he will be laid to rest by his loving family.
To send a condolence, please visit www.salmonandsons.ca