Individual Details

Although his niece gave me his full name as Champ Hadley Hays, he himself stated it the other way around.

Hadley registered in the First round of the Draft for World War II, 16 Oct 1940, in Blytheville, Mississippi Co, AR. Hadley C(Initial only) Hays lived at 1100 Chichasawba, Blytheville and was age 24, born 21 Nov 1915 in Van Buren, Arkansas. The person who would always know his address was Mrs. Frances Dawson Hays, his wife of the same address. He was employed by B. A. Lynch at the Farmers Bank & Co. He was 5' 11", 173 Lbs, blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion.

1940 Census. Hadley was living in Blytheville, Mississippi Co, AR, rooming with Roy L. & Letha Beavers. Hadley, was 24, Single. Lived in Conway in 1935. He was a bookkeeper at a Bank.

On 21 May 1942, Hadley C. Hays enlisted in the U. S. Army at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, in Little Rock, AR. He was born 1915 in Arkansas and had four years of college. His civilian occupation was that of bookkeeper and cashier. He was married and entered as a Private.

1950 Census. Blytheville, Mississippi Co, AR, Hh 123
1116 Hearn Street
Hadley C. Hays, 34, b. AR, Salesman, Farm Implements
Frances, wife, 33, b. AR
Hadley C. Jr., son, 5, b. TN
William D., son, 4, b. TN

The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) - Monday, August 17, 1998
HADLEY HAYS, GENTLEMANLY RETIRED GROCER, DIES AT 82
In 40 years, Hadley Hays slowly built and then sold off a chain of supermarkets in West Tennessee, always maintaining the gentlemanly demeanor for which he became known.
Eventually, he owned and operated Liberty Supermarket stores - later under the name Hays Foods - in Jackson, Trenton, Dyersburg and Humboldt.
Mr. Hays, of Jackson, died Saturday at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital of complications from brain surgery. He was 82.
Services will be at 4 p.m. today at Lambuth Memorial United Methodist Church, where he was a member for almost 40 years, with burial in Highland Memorial Gardens. George A. Smith & Sons Funeral Home North Chapel has charge.
Mr. Hays began his grocery store career in 1959 when he moved to Jackson and, with partners, bought Liberty Supermarket. In 1968, he bought a second store. In the early 1970s, he bought a couple more.
''His company grew into several stores in the '70s and '80s,'' said his son, Hadley Hays Jr. of Jackson. ''He was just an excellent businessman, community man. Just a premier customer service man.''
In the 1990s, he sold off stores until he retired in 1996 and sold off the last few remaining locations. Hays Foods no longer exists.
''He had a unique outlook about work and how to accomplish things,'' Hadley Hays Jr. said. ''He really enjoyed his work.''
When he retired, he stopped playing golf. Work had been his hobby. He spent his time with volunteer organizations.
Mr. Hays was a Paul Harris Fellow in the Rotary Club.
Fellow Rotarian Walt Madden of Jackson called his longtime friend a good member of the community.
''As I knew him lately, what he was doing was he was delivering Meals on Wheels here in Jackson,'' Madden said. ''He was certainly a gentleman. We all thought that of him.''
He was a graduate of the University of Arkansas, where he met his wife, and board member of the YMCA, Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, Salvation Army, and the Food Bank.
Mr. Hays, the husband of Frances Dawson Hays, also leaves another son, Bill Hays of Jackson; a sister, Dorothy Vines of Van Buren, Ark., and seven grandchildren.

Birth	21 Nov 1915	Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas
Marriage	9 Jun 1940	Frances Dawson
Death	15 Aug 1998	Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee

Spouse	Frances Dawson (1917 - )
Child	Living
Child	Living

Father	William Henry "Will" Hays (1878 - 1922)
Mother	Etta West (1880 - 1951)
Sibling	Eugene Sanford Hays (1898 - 1949)
Sibling	Clara Vivian Hays (1902 - 1994)
Sibling	William Clarence "Bud" Hays (1903 - 1989)
Sibling	Bennie Russell Hays (1905 - 1989)
Sibling	John Quincy Hays (1906 - 1980)
Sibling	Paul West Hays (1908 - 1994)
Sibling	Anna Ruth Hays (1909 - 1909)
Sibling	Reba Elizabeth Hays (1910 - 1935)
Sibling	Josie Blanche Hays (1912 - 1987)
Sibling	Donald Edwin Wallace Hays (1913 - 1994)
Sibling	Clinton Earl Hays (1914 - 1991)
Sibling	Mary Margaret Hays (1917 - 1996)
Sibling	Archie Theodore Hays (1919 - 1973)
Sibling	Dorothy Euldine Hays (1921 - 2001)