Irene Aymond Haydel

She was a "Born Again Christian" and a longtime resident of Baton Rouge. She was born on May 19, 1914, in Acy and died at the age of 96 on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. She began working at the age of 13 after leaving the 8th grade. In 1927, she passed herself off as 18 years old and got a sales position at Rosenfield's Department Store on Third Street. Through her life she held many positions such as double entry bookkeeper, hotel manager for the Heidelburg Hotel and finally as district manager covering South Louisiana for the Vernon Co. out of Newton, Iowa. She was the only woman who was successful in getting a sales position (which was considered impossible in those days for a woman to hold). She was featured in the company magazine as a Million Dollar Sales Person. She earned trips all over the world for her outstanding accomplishments. She was always treated with great respect by her management and peers. She worked for the company for 30 years and retired at 72. She survived an accident in 1944 when her vehicle hit a train in Mandeville. She was 30 years old and pronounced dead at the scene, covered and laid on the side of the road for dead. Mr. Covington passed the scene and stopped to see if he could help. Mr. Covington gave this Information to the family: He saw Tommy (her 10 year old son) coming up from a nearby ditch dusting himself off. Tommy was asleep at the time of the accident and thrown from the car upon impact through the window into a field. When Tommy got to the scene, he stomped his foot and said, "God did not take my mother." Then he uncovered his mother and saved her life. He had just finished Boy Scout training and knew that if your heart was still beating and pumping blood, you were not dead. He asked the men standing around to give him their handkerchiefs to stuff into the hole in his mother's forehead. An hour later she was taken to a hospital in New Orleans. The doctors expected her to die and didn't do anything to her for 9 days. After 9 days they set every bone and put her In a body cast. Every bone in her body was broken with the exception of three ribs and her spine. She had five concussions to her head and the motor nerve in her left eye was severed. The doctors said if she lived, she would be like a vegetable, never walk again, never have any memory or the ability to learn again. Because of God's great mercy and grace, she proved them all wrong and lived a wonderful full life. (She asked that this heroic action of her son and God's miracle of life itself be remembered at her death.) She had only one son, her greatest pride and Joy, Thomas E. Haydel. She began raising and supporting him again by herself 3 years after the accident. He died on April 16, 2000. She enjoyed raising many species of birds including a myna bird she taught more than 300 words; parrots, peacocks, guineas, chickens, cockatiels, parakeets, ducks and geese. She also raised horses and enjoyed riding with her son in the early days. She had a variety of pets including a monkey, a squirrel, dogs, cats and even a coatimundi, which she later donated to the Baton Rouge Zoo. She had a passion for plants and trees. She loved raising exotic plants and fruit trees and vines. She was a true Southerner. She was an expert seamstress, making most of her own clothes, suits and draperies. She was an excellent cook, entertaining family and friends in her home wherever she lived. She loved canning fruits and vegetables. Her last home on North Oak Hills Parkway was featured in the newspaper after she landscaped the yard, added a Jacuzzi, gazebo and a cabana next to her pool. She always did her best in any job she tackled. She had always been an avid sports fan of LSU, watching every football game possible. She loved country music and dancing. She is survived by her friends and relatives: from Baton Rouge: grandson, Bart Hague Haydel and wife Beth; granddaughter, Wendi Haydel Hairford and husband Derin; great-grandsons, Jack Paul Faulkner and Landon Hairford; great-granddaughter, Dru Mackenzie Hairford; sister-in-law, Anne Baynard Aymond; nephew, Jay Aymond and his sons, Mark and John; nephew, Donald Haydel; extended family, Dr. Kelly and Mrs. Gladys Runnels; friend, Ms. Elnoria King. From Maurepas: daughter-in- law, Brenda Hague Haydel; granddaughter, Holli Haydel Cavin and husband Charles; great-grandsons, Tommy Cavin and Glynn Cavin; friends, Dr. Glynn and Mrs. Kathy Reine of Maurepas Baptist Church; From Natchitoches: niece, Bobbye Nell Ellis and her daughter, Terri Cunningham, her husband, Joe, and their family. From Pierre Part: Uncle L.B. Hanna and Mary Sinclair. From Lafayette: niece, Judith Aymond Grand, her husband, David, and their family. From Denham Springs: cousin, Mrs. Sammy Henderson. From Livingston: friend, Mrs. Marie Bellue and family. From Geismar: ex-sister-in-law, Della Himel, 97, and her family. And many more friends and relatives, too many to list. Our heartfelt thanks to her physician, Dr. Gerald Barber, who gave her excellent care and kindness. She was preceded In death by her son, Thomas Eugene Haydel; her parents, J.D. Aymond Sr. and Electra Hanna Aymond; her sister, Verna Jo Steckllen; her brother, J.D. Aymond Jr.; her sister, Erie Aymond Fife; her brother-in-law, Winford "Son" Fife; her aunts and uncles, Vel and Violet Heath, Jimmy and Elton Dupuy, Benny and Dorothy Hanna, Earl and Anna Faye Hanna; and niece, Noreen DeLanoix. We give God praise and glory for her life on this earth and her new life with Him. Visitation will be at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd., on Monday, Dec. 20, from 11 a.m. until religious service at noon. Burial in Greenoaks Memorial Park.   >