Bob was the youngest son of Martin J. Hayden and Mary A. (née Davison), born in Brooklyn, NY in 1928. He is predeceased by his parents and his brother Martin, Jr. late of Merrick, NY and his sister Regina Morgan late of Danbury, CT. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Maryann (née Cooley), his four children, daughter Roberta and her husband Skip Aldrich, of Georgetown, TX; and his sons William and his husband Christopher Cruzado of Houston, TX; James and his wife Barbara (née Gallo) of North Massapequa, NY and Robert Neil and his wife Lori (née Hamilton), of Farmingdale, NY. He has eight grandchildren, Christopher Aldrich and his wife Margaret (née Rechel), Nicole and her husband David Mellan, Stephanie Aldrich and her fiancé Colby Ferguson, Danielle Hayden, Jeffrey Aldrich, Brian Hayden, Kayla Hayden and Keira Hayden, and one great grandchild, Hayden Scott Aldrich.
Bob was a resident of Hobe Sound, FL after retiring there in 1996 and was also a part-time resident of Candlewood Knolls, CT where he spent summers at the family cabin on Lake Candlewood. It was there, in 1946, where he would meet his future wife, Maryann, when Bob’s mother rented the Cooley cabin for the summer.
Prior to retirement, Bob was the Director of Operations for the New York Aquarium, Coney Island; the Assistant Director of the Brooklyn Museum; the Superintendent of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and the proprietor of Hayden Plumbing, a firm started by his father on Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn in about 1915. Bob was a Past Grand Knight of the Pope Pius XII Council, No. 4255, of the Knights of Columbus in Bayside, Queens, NY. He was an avid golfer and in retirement was an active member of the Lost Lake Golf Club Nine Hole men’s golf league. He and his wife Maryann were avid travelers and cruisers, they visited close to 100 countries on bus tours and cruising, their favorite lines being Oceania and Holland-America.
A wake will be held on Monday, September 19th from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Green Funeral Home, 57 Main St., Danbury, CT.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, September 20th at 10:30 a.m. at Saint Edward the Confessor RC Church, 21 Brush Hill Rd., New Fairfield, CT.
Immediately following the mass, family, friends and neighbors are invited to a celebration of Bob’s life at the Candlewood Knolls Clubhouse, #1 Lakeshore Drive South, New Fairfield.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his name to the Wildlife Conservation Society, 2700 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460, (718) 220-5100, www.WCS.org.
