March 20, 1976 - April 22, 2021
There is a format to obituaries, a list to check off. Schooling, check. Job, check. Spouse, children, check, check. The format suggests we are all the same and a life well lived is a formula. The format is flawed.
Two dates and a dash, but Zach’s dash was unique. He was his own authentic self long before it was cool. Rather than a list on inconsequential accomplishments, we choose to celebrate the ones that mattered in his eyes.
• He was the king of witty comebacks and dad jokes, elevating them to an art form.
• He was the guy you could find flying kites on a windy day.
• He never outgrew his love for fantasy. The Dark Crystal to The Never Ending Story and Star Wars to Transformers
• He would most likely describe his musical taste as punk, but it was a little of everything. He played a mean bass and loved to jam.
• He gave the best hugs.
• He had the answer to every question. Maybe not the right one, but always the hilarious one.
• He was ready for adventure, especially trips to festival where you sampled EVERYTHING on a stick.
• He never owned a vehicle that did not “need work.”
• Food was his love language. If he found some random spice, he would build an entire meal around it.
• He owned WAY too many tools for his endless projects.
• He loved cheese. Grilled, cubed, Mac-n, all of it.
• He was an animal lover, but his dog Fred was family and his best friend. They were inseparable.
Zach lived life on his own terms. He surrounded himself with what and who brought him joy, not with what society claimed would fulfill him. He will be missed by those left here to mourn him, though he wouldn’t want us to mourn. Instead, he would say, “Raise your glass, tell someone you love them, make them laugh, share an overindulgent meal, turn the music up and think of me.”
Zach was preceded in death by his grandparents, Clara and Amise Gary and Merton Hayes all of Sulphur, LA.
Left here to remember him are, his mother Kathy Venable and husband Randy of Lake Charles, LA; father Troy Hayes of Sulphur, LA; grandmother, Ida Hayes of Sulphur, LA; brother, Oran Hayes and wife Shanna of Tucson, AZ; sister, Laura Hayes Comeaux and husband Charles of Sulphur, LA; brother, Aaron Venable and wife Nicole of McKinney, TX; nephews, Evan Viator of Sulphur, LA, Braydon Basinger of Tucson, AZ, and Corbin Venable of McKinney, TX; stepfamily, Jerry and Regina LeBlanc and more extended family and friends than we could possibly list and last but not least his other side kick and best friend, Charisse Chaffin.
The family will hold a celebration of life that Zach would have wanted in the upcoming weeks.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hixsonsulphurmemorial.com for Zach Hayes' family.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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