It was in Kentucky where she met her first husband, Charles Hayes. They married in 1948 and that year they moved to Mansfield, Ohio where they raised five children, they were married until his death in 1985. She later married her second husband Gene Nolen in 1997 and remained married until his death in 2017.
Verna worked at Hartman Electric for nineteen years. She attended Church of God of Prophecy in Crestline for many years. She loved shopping and loved to go out wearing her jewelry. Verna loved her family and spending time with grandchildren.
To know her was to know she loved the Lord. She did her best to live her life by the way the Lord wanted her to. Her Bible was always close by her side and she read it daily as long as she was able to. We will miss her smile and her laugh. We have comfort knowing she wouldn’t want to be anywhere than where she is now.
Verna is survived by her daughters, Bert (Monte) Leonhart, Shirley (Mike) Tolliver; daughter-in-law Robin Hayes; 12 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; 13 great-great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Charles Arthur Hayes; her second husband, Woodward Gene Nolen; daughter, Linda Skolnick; son, Ronald J. Hayes; daughter Helen K Loring and her husband, Lee; brothers Oscar (Florence) Sims and Clayton Sims, sister Helen (John) Bently and grandson Steven Jeffries.
Family and friends may visit from 2:00-4:00 pm on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at Wappner Funeral Directors-Mansfield, 98 S. Diamond St. Funeral services will be held immediately following at 4:00 pm. Verna will be laid to rest in Lantz Cemetery, 1229 OH-39, Mansfield, on Monday, March 3, 2025, at 10:00 am.
