Leith Robert Hayes was born in Liverpool, England. The lasts eight years of his life he spent in Waldport, Oregon with his wife Mary and granddaughter Miley Gunderlock.
My heart is broken to have lost my best friend and husband after a courageous fight for 3 ½ years to losing his battle to lung cancer. He was 74 years young. To look at him, or the way that he acted, you would have never known he even was sick. He fought to his very last breath on earth holding my hand.
Leith spent most of his childhood in Southern California before moving to Los Osos. This is where he met the love of his life 30 years ago by “accident.” He brought his truck into Los Osos Auto Body, where I worked as a secretary. After his second accident he brought me a spider cupcake for Halloween and asked me out. Our date was at the Great American Fish Co in Morro Bay. Being a single mom, I didn’t go out to eat much, so I ordered a whole crab. He thought that there would be leftovers. I ate every bite. It was true love!
We have never stopped eating crab. When we moved to Waldport, he bought a boat and we had many adventures crabbing on the Alsea Bay. He knew all the right crabbing spots and would actually share them with his friends and family. He would call neighbors and share his rewards. The neighbors would have to decline sometimes, because they already had a full freezer.
When we weren’t crabbing, we enjoyed walks on the beach and looking for agates. He was very competitive when it came to agate hunting but said “that I was the one with the eye for finding them.” I would take off running if I found one and put my foot on it, while he would try to pry me off. We had many good laughs. Wish he was still playing this game with me.
Friends and family didn’t always understand how we could have stayed together for as long as we did. We were called the “bicker-sons” by those that loved us. In good times and bad, we were a team. I could always count on him, and he could always count on me. Our nicknames for each other where “Sniffles and Pickles.” He was “Sniffles” because he was always sniffling about something. Mine was “Pickles” because I was always in a pickle. He would say that I make life fun, interesting maybe.
He enjoyed working on projects around the house, with my encouragement. He hated painting when I meant him, later he actually enjoyed it. I think. Playing Zelda and Mario Cart with Miley. His cats Massie and Sassy. Leith made the best smoked pastrami. The holidays, he always liked to keep his family’s traditions going. He was very generous but loved getting presents too. In fact, he was more like a little kid about it then Miley and I.
It was always important for Sniffles to try to fulfill everyone’s bucket list. He made sure that your birthday, and all the holidays were memorable. When he knew that there wasn’t anything that they could do for his cancer, he had only two things on his bucket list. One was to see Miley (our granddaughter we both raised) attend her graduation from high school and the other to be able to take her somewhere for her 18th birthday. She was the other love of his life. He was so proud of her. Luckily, he was able to do both. She graduated in June and turned 18 on July 16. We all had the best memories going up to Seattle for two days.
“He was very supportive of me and taught me many life skills, I’ll never forget. I’ll miss him a lot!” Love Miley
“My love of my life, I will always remember all the wonderful things you did for the both of us through all these years. You taught me well.” Love Mary
In the future we will be having a memorial at the ocean in Bayshore celebrating his “Good Life,” as he would have said.
Special thanks for giving us 3 ½ more years to all the staff at Oncology in Newport. Radiology in Corvallis, Evergreen Hospice, and The Albany House. The support from all of our friends, neighbors and family that have been there from the beginning of this journey to the next chapter of our lives.
Please make a donation in the name of Leith Robert Hayes to your special place! He would have wanted that.
