Richard Eugene Hay
Richard Eugene Hay, 97 years, passed away on Sunday, September 8, 2024, with his family at his side, at his home in Waynesboro, Virginia.
Mr. Hay and his wife, Jacquelin (Winner) Hay moved to Waynesboro, Virginia from Vienna, Virginia in July 1990, after his retirement from the Federal Highway Administration in McLean, Virginia.
Mr. Hay was born in Ottawa, Kansas on July 6, 1927, to the late Ernest Roy Hay and Flora Bell (Robison) Hay. After he graduated from Ottawa High School in 1945, he enlisted in the Naval Reserve in February 1945 and was called to duty on July 10, 1945. He was honorably discharged to inactive duty on August 20, 1946. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1951. Mr. Hay and Jacquelin Winner were married on January 20, 1948, while he was in school. They were married for 68 years.
Mr. Hay was predeceased by his wife, Jacquelin, who passed away on May I, 2016, his son, Courtney Hay, who passed away March 19, 2009, and a grandson, Isaiah Haynes, who passed away on June 4, 1996.
Mr. Hay is survived by his daughter, Debra Hay, of Waynesboro, Virginia, a granddaughter, Emily Haynes (Andrew Wiseman), her two sons, (his great-grandsons) Liam Skelton, and Elijah Skelton, and Emily’s and Andrew’s son, (his great-grandson) Chayce Wiseman, a granddaughter, Abigail (Haynes) Pan (Jonathan Pan) and their son, (his great-grandson) Myles Pan, and theft soon coming daughter (his great-granddaughter), and by nieces and a nephew.
He started his career upon graduation from KU with the Kansas Highway Commission in Iola, Kansas. Subsequent promotions took him to assignments in Hiawatha, Horton and Topeka, Kansas. In 1956, he was loaned to the AASHO Road Test in Ottawa, Illinois for a four-month assignment as Resident Engineer on the earth work construction of Loop A. In 1964, he joined the Bureau of Public Roads in their Regional Office in Kansas City, Missouri as a regional research/materials engineer. In 1969, he was promoted to a position as concrete research engineer in the BPR lab in McLean, Virginia. Subsequent promotions resulted in his becoming the Federal Highway Administration Director of the Office of Engineering and Highway Operations R & Din 1982, Mr. Hay retired from the FHWA on July 7, 1987.
Mr. Hay was an avid collector of antique wood working tools. His collection was primarily concerned with edge tools made in Baltimore, Maryland in the period of 1796 to 1900. He is the author of the book “Directory of Baltimore Plane and Edge Tool Makers 1796 to 1900” published in 1981. During his retirement, Mr. Hay became an avid family genealogist which resulted in two books: one on his paternal ancestry and the other on his maternal ancestry.
Mr. Hay was a member of the Main Street United Methodist Church (MSUMC). He and his wife, Jacquie, had been active Methodist members from their time as members of the Countryside Methodist Church in Topeka, Kansas in 1962.
McDow Funeral Home is assisting the family. Memorial Contributions may be made in his name to Main Street United Methodist Church, Waynesboro, VA, 22980. Burial will be at Augusta Memorial Park.
The family extends special thanks to the Augusta Hospice of the Shenandoah, to Care Advantage Home Health and to the Waynesboro First Aid Crew for their wonderful care for Mr. Hay in his last days, and for their compassion to the family.
