Charles Ray Hayes

In Loving Memory of Charles “Charlie” Ray Hayes

Charles Ray Hayes, known affectionately by those who loved him as “Charlie,” entered this world on February 19, 1951, in Bessemer, Alabama, to the late Rosa Capps Hayes and Walter “Bud” Hayes.

After moving to Louisiana from Alabama, Charlie began building the life that would become his legacy. He married his first wife, Cathy Smith Hayes Hancock, the mother of his three oldest children. It was during this chapter of his life that Charlie began what would become a long-time career working on the tugboats. His years on the water were a testament to his strong work ethic and his willingness to work hard to provide for the people he loved.

After spending 18 years in Louisiana, Charlie moved to Florida, where life would lead him to the woman who would become the love of his life, Teena Hayes.

Charlie and Teena shared 32 years of marriage, building a life and a family together. When Charlie married Teena, his family grew by two daughters, whom he adopted and loved as his own. He didn’t simply become their stepfather—he chose to make them his daughters in every sense of the word.

Together, Charlie and Teena built a life filled with family, love, laughter, challenges, and countless memories. Their family continued to grow through the years, and Charlie became a husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather whose presence touched generations.

Charlie’s greatest legacy was not his career or the places he lived. It was the family he loved and the lives he touched.

Family meant many different things to Charlie, and his family tree reached far and wide.

Today, we don’t say goodbye to Charlie as though his life has simply ended. We say goodbye to the man whose life became a part of so many others.

We will remember the husband he was to Teena, the father he was to his children, the grandfather and great-grandfather he became, the brother and family member he was, and the friend he was to those fortunate enough to know him.

There will be moments when his absence feels especially heavy—a familiar story that won’t be told the same way, a chair that sits empty, a family gathering where we instinctively look for him, or a memory that suddenly brings both laughter and tears.

But those moments are also reminders of something beautiful: Charlie was here. He was loved. He mattered. And he left a piece of himself behind in all of us.

His life will continue through his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren, and every person who carries a memory of him in their heart.

The years may pass, but the love we have for Charlie will not.

So today, we honor his life. We celebrate the memories. We hold tightly to the family he helped create and the legacy he leaves behind.

And we thank God for the time we were given with him.

Rest peacefully