Martha W. Hayden

Martha (Wilson) Hayden, “Pat,” age 88, of Swansea, passed away Thursday, August 29, 2019 at the Residence at Cedar Dell in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, surrounded by her loving family and devoted caregivers. She was married to the late Herbert Foster Hayden for 55 years before his death in 2007.

Born in Kittanning, PA, daughter of the late John Billings Wilson and Isabel (Painter) Wilson, she spent her youth in Fairlawn, NJ. Alongside her father, a senior engineer for the New York Port Authority, Pat rode in the first car to ceremoniously cross over the George Washington Bridge on its opening day in 1931 and rode in the first car to pass through the Lincoln Tunnel in 1937. She lived in Barrington, RI for 10 years before settling with her family in Swansea in 1962.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1952 from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mrs. Hayden was the creator of Bay Babies Stuffed Animals and co-owner of the Pin Cushion Fabric Store in Somerset, MA. She worked as the Registrar for New England Technical Institute in Providence, RI and in Grant Development at Bristol RI Community College’s Women in Cottage Industries Program.

An active member of the First Christian Congregational Church in Swansea, Mrs. Hayden became their first female Deacon. She was a member of the Swansea Garden Club, the Fortnightly Club and the Barrington Jr. Women’s Club. She was a lifelong member of the Girl Scouts of America, having been the neighborhood chairwoman of 17 troops. Mrs. Hayden belonged to a knitting group at Cedar Dell where she recently took up watercolor painting giving them as gifts to her family members. She always loved a good party and never missed the chance for a gathering with family and friends in her beloved Touisset neighborhood.

She is survived by three daughters, Martha Curtis of Swansea, MA; Carolyn Hayden and her partner Chris Nations of Laramie, WY; Priscilla Hayden-Sloane and her husband Joseph Sloane of Milton, MA; two grandchildren, Amelia Sloane Hoyt and her husband Christopher Hoyt and Ian Sloane; two great-granddaughters, Cassandra and Chloe Hoyt. She was the mother-in-law of the late Laurence Curtis and was sister of the late Isabel Wilson.

A Funeral Service for Pat will be held on Saturday, September 7, 2019 at 11:00 AM in the First Christian Congregational Church, 1113 G.A.R. Highway, Swansea, MA. Relatives and friends invited. Visiting Hours on Friday, September 6, 2019 from 4:00 to 7:00PM in the Waring-Sullivan Home at Birchcrest, 189 Gardners Neck Rd., Swansea, MA. Contributions in her memory may be made to the First Christian Congregational Church, Pipe Organ Fund, 1113 G.A.R. Highway, Swansea, MA 02777 or to the Residence at Cedar Dell Activities Fund, 628 Old Westport Rd., Dartmouth, MA 02747. Burial Private.