Colene May (Bryant) Hayes

Colene was born August 20, 1942, in Nampa, ID to Spencer and Faye Bryant. She has four sisters, Zona Robertson, her twin sister Valene Widmyer, Jo Anne Blessinger, and Sharron “Sherry” Dwyer, and her brother, Larry Bryant. Colene and Valene were inseparable. Whatever Valene told Colene to do, Colene did it! In high school, she was a proud member of the Spizettes Drill Team. She was an outstanding dancer, and worked at the local drive-in. She graduated from Nampa High School in 1960. After attending community college for a short time, Colene attended and earned her cosmetology license from Superior Western Professional Beauty College in Nampa. She always said her mom made her go, and she was so mad. But after the first day of beauty school, she absolutely LOVED it!Colene enjoyed going to work every day and never complained. She delighted in her work, and many clients became lifetime friends. Colene styled hair for 56 years and often knew all the gossip, even before her children. Colene began dating her future husband, Johnny Mike Hayes, on March 28,1959. After 41 days of dating, they both decided that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. This was recorded in their yearbooks. They were smitten and adored each other. John and Colene loved to dance and won many dance contests in their youth. They continued to look amazing on the dance floor at every age. They would attend several dances throughout high school, loved to socialize, and party, party, party! Colene married John on July 19, 1963. They were married for 57 years. Colene was very supportive of the Jaycees, her husband's softball team, and the Shriners. She often carried her cowbell (for which she got in trouble from the umpire) to cheer on the softball team. Colene’s husband, John, is a Shriner clown, which gave her the opportunity to dress up with him. The children at the events loved her the best because she was the same size as they were! Her family and friends spent a lot of weekends camping, fishing, and water skiing together. Colene and John would pile all the kids, their friends, and the dog in the van and head off. Colene made all her children wear life jackets in the three-foot wading areas in the lake. Those were some of the best times and memories. One of her favorite holidays was Halloween. Colene often made costumes for herself, family, and others. She loved any opportunity to wear a costume. Some of the costumes included Smurf, mummy, pumpkin, baby, ghost skeleton, clown, 50’s costumes for all the kids and adults, mice, and many others. She ended up on the local news for her ghost skeleton costume; she just loved it! If there was an opportunity to dress in costume, she would take it. Colene loved golfing. She was not a great player, but she loved playing in tournaments with her husband as he could coach her and always win with her high handicap. She also enjoyed watching the horse races at the fairgrounds and placing a little bet here and there. Colene always wanted a slug bug and was so excited once she bought her green bug. She was so proud of her little green car! She always commented that people around town would stop her to talk about her car. Colene’s love language was helping and gift giving. When her granddaughter, Paige, was a little girl, Paige called Grandma the Fairy Godmother. Paige knew if she ever wanted anything, all she had to do was call Grandma. She was a huge gift-giver and wanted her kids and grandkids to have anything they wanted. There wasn’t anything Colene wouldn’t do for her family. Colene worked part time so she could spend her weekends in Choteau with family and cheerleaders, working concessions, and helping wherever needed. When she visited her kids, she always helped with laundry, dishes, and yard work. When her son, John, retired from the Navy, she enjoyed painting and decorating his home. She loved being with her family. Familly was everything to her. Every day she looked forward to spending time and vacationing with her kids and grandkids. She also loved and adored her sons-in-law, Jeff LaTray, John “Shep” Shepherd, and Kahn LaCounte. She often commented to her youngest daughter, Jeannine, how lucky she was that Kahn put up with her. After two weeks of dating, her daughter Julie said, “My mom likes Shep more than me. If we break up, mom may keep him instead.” Colene loved animals and always looked forward to going to the Zoo when visiting her kids in Oregon. Her favorites were the elephants. She loved all her pets. To name a few, Nikki, Petunia, Ralph, Tiffany, Vanilla, Breezy, Georgia, Peaches, plus many more. Her last dog was Linus, a long-haired Dachshund, who was rescued. When Linus passed, she went to Bright Eyes animal shelter to find another companion. As she was looking at the cats, there was one kitten in particular who literally picked her. She kept jumping in her lap, and Colene chose her. She named her Sugar. They were two peas in a pod. Sugar stuck to Colene like glue and sat by her side every day. Her kids would comment that Sugar acted like a dog. She followed her, sat by the tub when she took a bath, and slept under the covers with her. Colene loved her so much and Sugar loved her back. Her family called Colene a medical miracle. She was a twin who weighed 3 pounds in 1942. She should not have survived. She had a life-threatening ruptured appendix in 1979, and spent over a month in the hospital. When she turned 50, she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. It was a fluke they found it, and after 8 months of chemo, she was good to go. She had lung, asthma, and kidney problems. She began dialysis 5 years ago. Every time we wondered “How will she survive this?” She did! We wondered if she would outlive us all. She often commented that her goal was to live to be 92. Colene had such a big heart for her family and community. When she was going through chemotherapy, she had an amazing attitude. Her cancer doctor asked her to be an advocate to others going through chemo. She would visit and help them with their makeup, assuring them that it was okay to have a bald head, and show them how to look cute. Colene will always be remembered as the cutest little wife, mom, and grandma. You never knew what she was going to say. There was rarely a person who met her who did not love her. She is survived by her husband, John Hayes; sister, Jo Anne (John) Blessinger; sisters-in-law, Beverly Howard, Jacque Lowry, and Jackie Bryant; brothers-in-law, Ed Dwyer, Duane Widmyer, and Dale (Gayle) Blunk; son, John Hayes, Jr.; daughters, Jill (Jeff) LaTray, Julie (Shep) Shepherd, and Jeannine (Kahn) LaCounte; grandchildren, Jacob (Lindsey) LaTray, Emily (Jon) Martin, Hannah LaTray, Sarah (Kenny) Hangartner, Jessica LaTray, Paige (Kyle) Shepherd-Spargur, Faith Shepherd, Kean LaCounte, and Kess LaCounte; five great-grandchildren, James, Noah, and Percy Shepherd-Spargur, and Evelyn and Naomi Martin. She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Zona, Sherry, and Valene; and brother, Larry. In lieu of flowers please send any donations to Shriners Children’s Hospital, 911 W. 5th Ave, Spokane, WA. 99204. Please note “in memory of Colene Hayes” with your donation.