of Bryant, AR

July 25, 1938 - July 30, 2021

Juanita Blythe Wilson Hays

Born July 25, 1938 in Stilwell, OK to Leonard Wilson and Mabel Cole Wilson. She left this life on July 30, 2021 and was met on the other side by her parents, 3 brothers and a baby sister. She is survived by her devoted husband of 63 years, Don Hays, son Clay Hays (Laura, sister Kaye Gilder), daughter Carla Hays, 2 grandsons (Nathan Hays, Dak Hackler), 4 brothers, a sister and many loved nieces and nephews and dear friends.
Nete/Nita was the 2nd oldest of 10 and helped raise many of her siblings. By the time her own children came along, she was well practiced in child-rearing and nursing so unless blood was spurting you were good to go.

She graduated as an RN at the top of her 1957 class at Sparks Nursing School in Fort Smith, AR. Married Don in 1958 and they soon headed to the big city of Little Rock. She spent many years as an OB/GYN and surgical nurse and was privileged to assist with the arrival of many new souls. She was often stopped while out shopping to admire babies and children of all ages that she had helped bring into the world.
She later worked as a Charge Nurse at Doctor's and St Vincent's hospitals before moving on to Utilization Review and Chart Review for various entities wherever she and Don landed while navigating the tough economic times of the 80's. Bradenton, Florida, Greenville, Mississippi, Nashville, Arkansas and Rock Hill, S.C. is where many new lifelong connections and friends were made. They rocked retirement by selling the house and possessions and rode off to full time RV living for 10 plus years. They made many RV friends and had many good adventures. She delighted in calling from Mexico on a bone chilling cold January morning in Little Rock to report she was out having coffee in her shorts and t-shirt and how are YOU?

She was ever a technology junkie. In the 70's and 80's she had one of the first portable dishwashers, one of the first bag phones and one of the first massive microwaves. She was doing bills totally online as soon as such a thing was possible, her smart phone was the latest model and she kept up with family and friends via Face Book, text and email. She loved to drive small foreign cars with a stick shift that had lots of pep and was NEVER a morning person. Hiding Easter eggs was an annual challenge personal best event. She was an avid Hogs fan of any sports genre, had a dry sense of humor, opinions which you were welcome to and not a lot of filtering before calling it as she saw it (we love you, Ma!) She is our one and only and will be missed deeply.

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