HAVERHILL: Judith M. (Miles) Hays, 70, died Thursday, July 14, 2011 in the Holy Family Hospital in Methuen after a brief illness.
Born in Clarkesville, West Virginia on July 9, 1941, she was the daughter of the late Frank and Edith (Bennett) Miles. Judy was raised in Weston, West Virginia and was a graduate of Weston High School class of 1959. She also attended the Glenville State Teacher’s College where she received her Bachelor’s degree in teaching. She relocated to Boston in 1967, then moving to Merrimac in 1974 where she resided until 1991. After leaving Merrimac she decided to make Haverhill her home for the next nineteen years.
Judy was an eighth grade English teacher at the Pentucket Regional Middle School until her retirement in 2008. She worked for over forty years as a teacher. She spent twenty years of her career in the Pentucket School System. She was a member of the Merrimacport United Methodist Church, where she served as the church secretary and was a member of the Women’s Group. Judy also was a committee member for the Boy Scouts Troop #41 in Merrimac.
She and her family were summer residents of Martha’s Vineyard at Sengekontacket for many years. Spending their summers there was something they all enjoyed and have many happy memories of their times spent together. Judy enjoyed drawing portraits of people, antiquing, traveling, arts and crafts and history. She had two grandchildren that she truly loved being with and one of their favorite things to do was to spend time at Chuck E. Cheese.
She is survived by her two sons and daughters-in-law, John M. and Michelle Hays of Concord, and Christopher L. and Patricia Hays of Watertown; two beloved grandchildren, Katherine Cain Hays and Timothy Amestoy Hays; her former husband, Timothy Hays and several nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by her sister, Dorothy Linger.
Her funeral service will be held on Tuesday in the Merrimacport United Methodist Church, 39 High St., (River Rd. at High St.) Merrimac at 10 a.m. Visiting hours will be held on Monday in the Linnehan-Grondin Funeral Home, 129 Kenoza Ave., Haverhill from 4 – 8 p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the Pentucket Regional Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 36, Groveland, MA 01834. Interment will be private.