Ronald Dean Hayes, was born on January 28, 1931, in a farmhouse in Chillicothe, OH, to Kay William Hayes and Jenny Lucille Woodring Hayes. He passed away on December 4, 2023 at the age of 92 of Alzheimer's, without pain or suffering and remembering the names of his family.

Ron graduated from New London High School in 1949, attended Oberlin College, and chiropractic school. Ron joined the Air Force in 1951 and was stationed in Tokyo, Japan. He met the love of his life there, Reiko Ebayashi, and they married in 1952. They had two children, R. Darwin and T. Lynne, and returned to the United States in 1954 where he was stationed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. He was honorably discharged in 1955 and moved to Lorain, Ohio. Ron became a Realtor and opened his own company in Elyria, Ohio. He later joined Realty One and managed successful offices on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. He retired in 1996 but kept active in real estate consulting.

Ron loved his family, friends, and church dearly. He was the Sunday School Superintendent at Broadway Assembly Church in Lorain, Ohio, where he oversaw multiple classes from the nursery to the adult Sunday School classes. He taught the adult class and visited church families and new visitors to the church on Tuesday nights to encourage and pray for them. Ron became a pilot of small aircraft at the age of 36. He loved to hunt small and large game. In 1969 he flew a single-engine Mooney aircraft with his pastor to the island of Newfoundland to hunt moose. Both men were successful and returned to Elyria, Ohio, with 1,000 pounds of moose meat. He, his wife, and two children ate moose meat for one solid year!

Ron enjoyed reading books, writing poetry, and creating Bible studies for his class. He was a skilled carpenter and mechanic. He built cabinets, remodeled houses, and did mechanical work on his cars. He often joked that he was a "Jack of all trades but master of none."

He is survived by his wife, Reiko, of 71 years; son, Darwin (Diane); daughter, Lynne Rose (Robert); grandsons, Demetrius Menge and Joel Rose (Tara); granddaughters Jonna Fox (Bradley), Faith Keithley (Josh), Lisa Sims (Jody), and Tamara Hernandez (Dennis); fourteen great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Ron is  preceded by his father, Kay William, and mother, Jenny Lucille.

Graveside service with full military honors will be at 11:00 AM, Friday, December 8, 2023 in the Rivermonte Memorial Gardens, 4500 S. Lone Pine Ave, Springfield, MO 65804. A Celebration of Life will follow at 12:00 PM at Global University, 1211 S. Glenstone Ave, Springfield, Mo 65804 Online condolences may be made at klingnerfuneralhome.com.