William Herbert Hayward
June 5, 1917 ~ February 17, 2015
William Herbert Hayward, 97, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died Tuesday, February 17, 2015, at Northbrook Manor Care Center, Cedar Rapids. A gathering of family and friends will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, February 20, 2015, at Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Cedar Rapids. Burial will be at a later date at West Grove Cemetery, Portland, Indiana.
Survivors include his sons, William Harvey (Rosalee) Hayward of Lafayette, Indiana, Gerald (Janice) Hayward of Charleston, South Carolina, and Kenneth (Steve) Hayward of Marion; sisters-in-law, Beverly Steffen of Fresno, California, and Marga Hayward of O'Fallon, Illinois; ten grandchildren; and ten great grandchildren.
William was born June 5, 1917, in Morocco, Indiana, the son of Moses and Geneva (Cressy) Hayward. During high school he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and went to work digging irrigation ditches to help support his family. This service led him to join the US Army Air Corps where he served in WWII during the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI), earning an honorable discharge as a technical sergeant.
On April 7, 1946, he married Wanda Engle in Kendallville, Indiana. After his military service, William worked in manufacturing jobs most notably on the assembly line at the Studebaker plant in South Bend, Indiana. He then worked many years as a custodian for the South Bend and Indianapolis Public School Systems, retiring in 1980.
Though retired, he continued to stay busy by joining the amateur archaeology club in Indianapolis which led to a job building dioramas for the Indiana History Museum. William and Wanda eventually moved to Iowa. She died in 2013. William enjoyed the activities, especially bingo at the care center.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; two sons, Larry and Curtis; four brothers; and a sister.
Memorials may be directed to the family.
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Hello, Haywards all.
Jack and I were sorry to hear about Uncle Herbie. He was always a great uncle. I especially enjoyed reading the letters he received from students at one of the schools where he was a custodian. One that particularly caught my attention was one that read, “Dear Mr. Hayward, Thank you very much for cleaning up after I threw up on the floor.” How could you not love that??
Our love to all, most sincerely,
Jeannie and Jack Hartman
jhart81343@aol.com