Anna Marie Hayes

Anna Marie was born in Lake Charles, LA on January 14, 1949, and was the daughter of William Thomas "Tom" Silvia and Anna Gertrude "Pete" Silvia.

Aside from a brief period in which her family lived in Bay City, TX, Anna Marie lived her entire life in the Lake Charles area. Her father, Tom Silvia, owned a barber shop in Moss Bluff, and it was in Moss Bluff she would live for more than 45 years. No place was more special to her.

She was a 1967 graduate of LaGrange High School. After high school, she studied bookkeeping at McNeese State University and worked in the office of her uncle, Leon Theriot.

In 1969, she married Simon John Hayes, in Lake Charles. They made their home and reared their family in Moss Bluff. The family attended St. Theodore's Catholic Church.

In 1993, Anna Marie was hired by the Calcasieu Parish Public Library, where she worked as a Library Assistant for the Genealogy Library. In 1999 she received the Calcasieu Parish Employee Excellence Award, along with a congratulatory letter from Mayor Willie L. Mount.

Anna Marie had a talent and a lifelong passion for family history. In addition to her own family's history, she assisted countless others in their search for their families' roots. People from across the country sought Anna Marie's expertise in genealogy, and she often gave talks on different aspects of family history research. She traveled to Salt Lake City, UT on several occasions to visit the LDS Family History Library. She was a long-standing member of the Southwest Louisiana Genealogical Society.

Anna Marie was an extraordinary cook, a dedicated homemaker and a tireless caregiver. She was a den mother, a room mother, and an "adoptive" mother to many of her sons' friends through the years. Her meals, her sense of humor, her kind nature and her generous spirit will be sorely missed and never replaced.

Anna Marie is preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 44 years, Simon John Hayes; grandson, John Patrick Hayes. She is survived by her two sons, John William Hayes (companion, Grace) of Richland, WA and Donald James Hayes (wife, Amanda) of Pearland, TX. She is also survived by her three grandchildren, Aaron Matthew Hayes of Kent, WA, William Thomas Hayes and Eleanor Grace Hayes of Pearland, TX; her brother Richard Thomas "Tommy" Silvia of Moss Bluff, LA; her nephew, Lance Rentzel Reese of Moss Bluff, LA; nieces, Kimberly Reese Sonnier of Westlake, LA, and Mary Alice Hayes and Heather Kathleen Hayes of Gillis, LA

Services will be held at 10:00am on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at Hixson Funeral Home of Moss Bluff. Visitation will be Friday, February 3, 2017 from 5:00-9:00pm. at the funeral home with a rosary at 6:00pm. Visitation will resume Saturday from 9:00am until the time of the service. Burial will follow at Old Ritchie Cemetery in Moss Bluff. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.hixsonfuneralhomes.com