Mary Hayes

Mary Louise Hayes, age 61, of Erie, transitioned from labor to reward. Tuesday, February 9, 2016, at Saint Mary’s Asbury.

She was born July 21, 1954 in Slidell, LA, a daughter of Iola Bolden Hayes and the late Lonnie James Hayes, Sr.

Mary Louise graduated from Heidelberg High School and went on to earn her B.S. in Mental Health Counseling in 1983, an M.S. in Community Counseling in 1986 and a Certification in Secondary School Guidance in 1987 from Gannon University where she worked as the Director of the Gannon University Upward Bound Program for many years. She served as a school counselor since 1998 for the Robert Benjamin Wiley Community Charter School. .

Mary Louise also was a Board member of the Department of Erie County Board of Assistance, Erie Human Relations, Erie County Diabetes Association, Second Harvest Food Bank, NAMI, Leadership Erie and a member of PA State Education Association, United Way, Minority Participation Committee, Erie Hotline and volunteered at the Mercy Center for Women, where she won the 1996 Women Making History Honoree and. She was also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Mary Louise was a member of the Word of Life Center International Church and a former longtime member of Community Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Pastor Herlies Murphy.

In addition to her father, she was preceded in death by her brother, Lonnie James Hayes, Jr.

Mary Louise leaves to cherish her memory her mother, Iola Bolden Hayes, four sisters, Marie Dupree Jordan (Willie) of Erie, PA, Diane Hayes Banks of Gulfport, MS, Jessica Raven of Pearl River, MS and Latisha Hayes of Houston, TX; three brothers, Leroy Victor of Pearl River, MS, Roger Brown (Katrina) of Picayune, MS and Gregory Victor of St. Joe, LA.; Three Godsons, Danaro Lesean Moore of Erie, PA, Edmend Alan Banks of Gulfport, MS and Jamanti M. Battles of Woodbridge, VA; and Goddaughter Terri Darby of Erie, PA.; Many nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews.

Cousins and friends may call at the Word of Life Christian Center, 660 Hess Avenue, in Erie on Friday from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. The Mu Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha will perform an Ivy Beyond the Wall Ceremony there at 7:00 p.m. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday at First United Methodist Church, 707 Sassafras Street, with Bishop Clifton McNair III officiating. Private interment at Erie County Memorial Gardens. Arrangements are entrusted to Burton Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc., 602 West 10th Street. Memorials may be made to the Regional Cancer Center, 2500 West 12th Street Erie, PA 16505.