Long-time Bristol philanthropist laid to rest

John Herbert Hayes Jr. was a third-generation member of the family contracting business that boasted installing the first modern bathroom in Bristol, complete with running water and a bathtub. He’s also the grandson of the namesake for Bristol Virginia’s Fred Hayes Park, on Spencer Street.

Hayes, in 1997, gave the city $50,000 and four lots in the historic Spencer Street area to build the park.

On Tuesday, he died of natural causes at Bristol Regional Medical Center. He was 92, and had spent most of his life living and working in his native Bristol – short of his military service overseas and vacation travel.

Hayes was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Lucina Hayes, in 2006. His obituary notes that they met in England, where he was stationed as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces from January 1943 until the end of World War II. They married on Nov. 19, 1944.

They spent their 62 years as a couple traveling the world, the obituary adds.

Hayes also ran the family business, Fred Hayes Mechanical Contractor, named after his grandfather.

He is survived by his four daughters and a son.

The Bristol Herald Courier chronicled Hayes’ life over the past 69 years. He appeared in the newspaper as early as April 26, 1940, as a Virginia Polytechnic Institute junior readying for the Blacksburg university’s Ring Dance.

The newspaper again caught up with Hayes 20 years later, on Aug. 14, 1960, this time with a photo of his five children debarking a plane in New York after a flight from England.

Hayes’ journey through life again made the newspaper 24 years later, on Feb. 26, 1984, in an article detailing how he kept afloat the family business, created by his grandfather in 1890. The article mentions the company’s claim to building Bristol’s first modern bathroom, but does not say when it was built.

Hayes again appeared 13 years later, on March 12, 1997, when he provided the cash and land for the park.

Tuesday’s obituary is the newspaper’s latest mention of Hayes. His family buried him Friday following a ceremony at First Baptist Church in Bristol, Va., where he was a member.

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