Norman, OK
April 10, 2002
Oklahoman Published: April 12, 2002
HAYDEN William, 67, of Norman, Oklahoma, died Wednesday, April 10, 2002, in Norman, Oklahoma. Vigil services will be held at the Havenbrook Funeral Home in Norman on Friday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m.. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday April 13, 2002, at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church on Tecumseh Road, in Norman with Reverend John Metzinger, celebrant. Interment will follow at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Norman, Oklahoma. Bill was born December 7, 1934 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Henry William Hayden and Louise Molitor Hayden. He had two brothers, Grove Hayden and Henry W. Hayden. He married Iola Pohocsucut Hayden in Norman on December 16, 1967. They have three children, Marcia Segraves of Lawrence, Kansas, John David Hayden and his wife, Dana Deere, of Norman, and Sarah Louise Morris and her husband, Crews, of Oklahoma City. They have six grandchildren, Siobhan (Bonny) and Abel Martens of Lawrence, Kansas, Billy Ray, Ishie and Daniel of Norman and Amanda of Law ton. Bill attended Marquette School in Tulsa, Oklahoma and St. John's Seminary in Little Rock Arkansas.
He was ordained a priest and worked in different parishes. As the Associate at Blessed Sacrament in Lawton, he was active in community activities. He established a Head Start program, worked with the Community Action program and participated in "The Group," a multiracial group which effectively desegregated Lawton. He regularly participated in demonstrations for human rights. Bill worked in Business Development for Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity. He has been a small business owner having established several import stores in Oklahoma City, Lawton, and Kansas. Eventually, he returned to working with Indian tribes and organizations consulting on business and tribal development. He continued this work until his death.
He is survived by his wife of the home, his children, grandchildren and brother, Grove Hayden of Oklahoma City. He is preceded in death by his father, mother, and a brother, Henry. Bill will be remembered by his family as a well-read, well-traveled, and highly opinionated, generous and beloved person. His life was well lived. He will be greatly missed by the "love of his life" and by all those who came to know him during his life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity Women's Business Center, 3001 South Berry Road, Suite B, Norman, Oklahoma 73072.