Paul Cecil Hayden, 89, of Edgewater, MD, passed away peacefully on January 28, 2015 at the Charlotte Hall Veteran’s Home.
Born in Abell, MD on May 5, 1925, to the late James Elton and Daisy Elizabeth Harden Hayden, Cecil attended Holy Angels Elementary School in Avenue, MD and was a graduate of Margaret Brent High School, class of 1943. Upon graduation, he entered the Army Air Corps as World War II was in progress. He trained as an air traffic controller and as a Radar Operator. He was a member of a fixed ground radar crew in the European Theater of Operations from May 1944 to November 1945. He operated radar equipment and plotted courses of enemy planes on charts and reported the findings to the appropriate authority.
More than 65 years after his service discharge, in a ceremony presided by delegate Mike Busch, Cecil was awarded World War II medals that he earned but had not previously received. At this gathering, surrounded by his family and friends, he received the Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII, and Marksman Badge with Carbine Bar.
After World War II, he returned home to his beloved St. Mary’s County. In 1947, he married the love of his life, Cecilia Mary Battenfield from Washington D.C., who preceded him in death in 2010. Together, they had six children; Sharon P. Brown (Andy) of Hollywood, MD, Deborah A. Zeller of York, PA, Paul C. Hayden Jr. (Jean) of Huntingtown, MD , John G. Hayden of Abell, MD, Michael A. Hayden (Jennifer) of Davidsonville, MD and Colleen M. Mitsopoulos (Anthony) of Arnold, MD. Cecil had 27 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren.
Cecil began working at the Patuxent Naval Air Station and several years later began a career with the C&P Telephone Company. He worked in many positions in his 34 year career which took him on a number of three to five year tours of service in La Plata, Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Arlington , VA. After digging the holes for telephone poles in his first few years of service, he worked his way up to supervisor of supplies where he managed the distribution of telephone equipment and supplies for the state of Maryland. In addition, he managed the company’s inventories across the state along with preparing and analyzing budgets.
As a young man, he was a huge baseball fan and played in the Catholic leagues both before and after the war. He was so talented that he was asked to join a farm league in Florida which would have led to a professional career in baseball. Instead, he enlisted in the war as he believed it was his duty to serve his country. He followed the Washington Senators and then the Baltimore Orioles, in more recent years. He was an avid Football fan and followed the Baltimore Colts and then the Washington Redskins.
Cecil was very active in community service. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 1384 of St. Mary’s parish in Annapolis where he served as Grand Knight four times. He delivered over 25 Thanksgiving baskets to needy families in the Annapolis area, he was the first Cub Master of the St. Mary’s parish Cub Scout program in the late 1950’s and 60’s, he volunteered with the St. Vincent De Paul Society and with bingo for the Knights of Columbus for many years.
After retiring, Cecil enjoyed extensive traveling in the United States. He and his late wife, Cecilia loved the beach and made frequent trips to Ocean City. He loved gardening and everything he planted thrived and grew. Cecil truly possessed a green thumb. He loved to share his plants with family and friends.
Cecil’s greatest accomplishments were his family and the great love that he gave to all of them. But foremost, even as a child, he was a devout Roman Catholic and very often proclaimed that he loved his Catholic faith. He was fondly referred to by people in the community as the “Jesus†man as he frequently distributed small business cards with the word “Jesus†printed on them. Cecil was an honorable man, a devout Catholic and a loyal, faithful, and loving husband, father and grandfather. |