Maryann C. Hayden

predeceased by her husband of 67 years Robert J. Hayden.

Maryann was the daughter of William L. Cooley and Marie B. (née O’Connell), born at home on Courtney Avenue, Flushing, NY in 1929. She attended St.Mary’s Parochial School, Flushing, The Mary Lewis Academy, Jamaica Estates, received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Ladycliff College, Highland Falls, and a Masters Degree in Education from Queens College.

Maryann worked as a grammar school teacher in the New York City Public School System for more than

35 years, most of those spent at PS-178 in Jamacia Estates. After retiring in 1990, Maryann was a resident of Hobe Sound, Florida and was also a part-time resident of Candlewood Knolls, CT where she spent summers at the family cabin on Candlewood Lake. It was there, in1946, where she met her future husband Bob when his mother rented the Cooley cabin for the summer.

She enjoyed golf and in retirement was a member of the Lost Lake Golf Club Nine-hole women’s golf league, she was an accomplished quilter making unique quilts for all her children and grand-children, and she loved the camaraderie of the Mahjong table. She and Bob were avid travelers and cruisers visiting almost one hundred countries on tours and cruises, their favorite cruise lines being Oceania and Holland America. She was an active member of the Ladycliff College Alumnae Association and had the heartbreaking duty as president of the association in 1980-81 to oversee the closing of the college and the sale of the property to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Maryann is predeceased by her husband Bob Hayden, and her parents William and Marie, and brother Jack Cooley of Boynton Beach, FL. She is survived by her four children, daughter Roberta and her husband Skip Aldrich, of Monroe, NC; and her sons William and his husband Christopher Cruzado of Houston, TX; James and his wife Barbara (née Gallo) of North Massapequa, NY; and Robert Neil and his wife Lori (née Hamilton), of Farmingdale, NY. She has eight grandchildren Christopher Aldrich and his wife Margaret (née Rechel), Nicole (née Hayden) and her husband David Mellan, Stephanie (née Aldrich) and her husband Colby Ferguson, Danielle Hayden, Jeffrey Aldrich and his fiancé Maria Milner, Brian Hayden, Kayla Hayden and Keira Hayden, and four great-grandchild Hayden and Brooks Aldrich, Magnolia Mellan, and Archer Ferguson.

A wake will be held on August 27, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street,

Danbury, CT 06810.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on August 28, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. at Saint Edward the Confessor Church, 21 Brush Hill Road, New Fairfield, CT 06812.

Immediately following the funeral mass, family, friends and neighbors are invited to a celebration of Maryann’s life at the Candlewood Knolls Clubhouse (lower level), #1 Lakeshore Drive South, New Fairfield, CT 06812.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Maryann’s name to the Franciscan Sisters of Peekskill, 250 South Street, Peekskill, NY 10566, (914) 737-3373, www.peekskillfranciscans.org