Sandra Faye Hayes

Sandra Faye Hayes, 77, went home to be with her Lord peacefully at her home in Trenton, Georgia, on the morning of June 10, 2026.

Sandra loved the Lord, she loved serving others, and she simply loved people. She never met a stranger, so much so that she regularly embarrassed her children by striking up conversations with anyone and everyone about anything at all.

People were what she cared about most, especially those who could not fight for themselves. In the early 1980s she founded a human rights organization to advocate for children who were too often diagnosed with mental disorders and medicated in an era before conditions like autism were truly understood, when drugging a child into "behaving" was all too common. She was passionate, she was headstrong, and nothing on this earth could detour her from a mission once she set her heart to it. That fire carried her onto national television, including Geraldo and The Oprah Winfrey Show, and earned her a human rights advocacy award in Los Angeles.

She loved her sisters dearly and never failed to check on them, asking her children to keep them in prayer over even the smallest concern.

Sandra adored animals, but her two dogs, Charlie Doodles and Lila May, held her heart. One of her last wishes was that the two of them be kept together and find a good home. To make her point, she texted her children a photo of the pair snuggled in their crate and was careful to note that the crate door was wide open, that they were curled up together by choice, fully intending to tug at her family's heartstrings one last time.

She was also extremely funny, with what she would proudly admit was an off-color sense of humor. She once studied to be a comedian and even performed a few stand-up sets in comedy clubs like the famous "Ice House" in Los Angeles, California, where she lived with her beloved husband, Paul. Sandra was unapologetically herself, whether you liked it or not, whether it embarrassed you or not. She loved to laugh and to be silly.

She often quoted Matthew 18:3-4: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Her children teased her that she may have stretched that verse a bit to excuse never growing up. She wore "never growing up" as a badge of honor and refused to bend to the pressure, even from her own children. Knowing her, she will arrive in heaven exactly as she hoped, with the heart of a child!

Sandra was preceded in death by her loving husband, Lester Paul Hayes as well as her parents, Oliver and Gladys Coalson. She is survived by her daughter April Ruth Duncan and son-in-law Terry Duncan; her son Cobey Everett and daughter-in-law Laura Bowden Everett; her daughter Melissa Everett Evans and son-in-law Jeremy Evans; her granddaughters Amity Grace Levassuer and Abigail Rose Martin; her grandsons James and Vanessa Jordan and Andrue "Blake" and Jackie Jordan; Brett and Kelly Sturgeon; Blake and Elsa Sturgeon; her great grandsons Mason James Jordan; Austin Andrew Jordan; Damion; Brandon; Bryce Sturgeon; Zach Sturgeon; Jaxon Miles Jordan; Mikal Ruth Jordan; Louanne Emery Jordan; and her sisters Linda Alexander and brother-in-law DW Alexander, Barbara Heavilin and her brother-in-law Charles Heavlin, and Ruth Terry and brother-in-law Mark Terry. She will be dearly missed and talked about for the rest of our lives, having left behind more memories than her family could ever hold, and not one of them they would ever want to forget!

A memorial service celebrating Sandra’s life will be held Saturday, June 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Moss Funeral Home, 1901 2nd Avenue N.W., Cullman, Alabama 35055.