Lucille “Lucy” Hayes, RSCJ

Religious of the Sacred Heart, Lucille “Lucy” Hayes died January 29, 2026, in Atherton, California. Lucy was born on July 21, 1929, in Denison, Iowa, to Russell Robert Hayes and Marian Johnson Hayes.

Lucy was one of four children with an older sister and two brothers. Her father operated a men’s clothing store in the 1940’s, and her mother stayed home and cared for the children. Lucy’s childhood was idyllic, enjoying the love and care of her mother and playing childhood games with her siblings. They attended Saint Rose of Lima elementary school and then the local public school. Lucy, in her senior year at Denison High School, held the lead in the school play.

In 1948, Lucy enrolled in Duchesne College in Omaha, Nebraska, and earned a BA in Drama in 1951. She was greatly influenced by Sisters Connie Campbell and Susan Campbell, and Lucy immediately felt at home when she went through the door at Duchesne. Impressed by her teachers, she also appreciated the breadth of the humanities courses. With her Drama major, Lucy had the lead in several college Drama productions. As a boarder she experienced the prayerful atmosphere of the house. An active member of the Children of Mary Sodality, Lucy was drawn to the charism of the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

Lucy entered the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1951 at Kenwood in Albany, New York. At Kenwood Lucy valued the opportunity to deepen her prayer life. Her sister’s daughter, Judi who thought of Lucy as her second mother, at first failed to grasp why Lucy chose to enter the convent. But later in a letter to her aunt, she said: “You chose this way of life because you truly loved the Sacred Heart of Jesus and were more than willing to give up anything to become closer to Christ. Because of your example, I, too, increased my love of the Trinity and tried to follow the teachings of the Catholic religion.”

Lucy made her first vows on January 10, 1954, and then returned to Duchesne Academy where she taught in the middle school for the next six months. That summer she began her studies for an MA in History at the San Francisco College for Women. In 1955, she taught at the Convent of the Sacred Heart high school in Lake Forest, Illinois. She spent the next several years teaching the middle schools of Hardey Preparatory in Chicago, Duchesne Academy in Omaha, and Convent of the Sacred Heart in Atherton, California.

In February 1960, Sister Hayes went to Rome to prepare for the profession of final vows. After she made her final vows on July 21, 1960, she joined the faculty at the Convent of the Sacred Heart Broadway in San Francisco. She started out teaching middle school girls but eventually began working with the boys at Stuart Hall. She appreciated their humor and straightforwardness, and the boys, in turn, were very fond of her. In 1969, she received an M.A. in History from the San Francisco College for Women, Lone Mountain.

After being a valued teacher at Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton, from 1965 to1977, Sister Hayes enrolled at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley to study for a Master of Divinity Degree in Liturgy. She received the degree in 1980 and was well-prepared for her ministry at Holy Family Church in San Jose, California, where she was the liturgical coordinator for many years. In 1983, Sister Hayes returned to Omaha because of family concerns.

At home in Omaha, she helped her mother, who was in her nineties, and her bachelor brother, Bob, who was diabetic and on kidney dialysis. Although she joined the community at Duchesne, no position in the school opened for her at this time. During the years 1983-1992 while she was attending to her family, Lucy reached out to help the communities near her. She volunteered in the gift shop at Joslyn Art Museum and was active in St. John’s parish at Creighton University where she helped in the sacristy. She also helped at Duchesne Academy.

From 1993 until she moved to California, Lucy performed invaluable services at Duchesne; she was an archivist, greeted faculty members at the portry in the early morning, and was sacristan as well as moderator of the Children of Mary Sodality. On a commemorative plaque to Sister Hayes, Duchesne alumnae and friends said that “Lucy worked with love and with reverence to prepare for each Mass; she devoted herself to protecting the celebrations that sustain our faith.”

In 2003 Lucy began her three-year term as area director for the Religious of the Sacred Heart. This role highlighted her spiritual depth, her organizational skills, and her long history in Omaha. Besides these gifts, the Provincial Team noted that Lucy was well-read, had a love of the mission of the Society in Omaha, and thought and communicated in ways that were both creative and true to herself. The Provincial Team, after Lucy’s three-year term as area director, expressed their gratitude for how she forged a deep unity among the RSCJ in the area.

In 2016, after one hundred and thirty-five years of RSCJ presence at Duchesne, the USC Province decided to withdraw the last RSCJ from Omaha. The departure of Sister Hayes was met with both sadness and appreciation by all members of the Duchesne community. In fact. the librarian of the school said “Lucy loves to share what she has read; we have had some great conversations about current literature. She will be missed all over the building, but the library will especially miss her presence. It will not be the same without her.”

A great feast followed the closing Mass of Thanksgiving at Duchesne, at which many shared happy memories of so much that had transpired at Duchesne; attendees noted how generations upon generations of faculty, students, alumnae, and friends came to know the love of the Sacred Heart in these hallowed halls. Sister Hayes then moved to Redwood City, California, and joined the Vera community, but she spent several days a week helping in Oakwood’s library.

Lucy joined the Oakwood Community in August of 2021. She served as the community librarian for many years. She was also sacristan for several years and could always be seen in one of her three favorite places: the library, the chapel, or the newspaper reading table in the Fireside Room. When she was too ill to do the things she loved or to serve the community, she rested quietly in her room. While many of her friends and family in the Midwest could not visit, they wanted her to know how much they loved her and appreciated the impact she had had on their lives. Her friends from Duchesne Academy in Omaha sent multiple long emails about their lives and what knowing her had meant to them. Their messages echo her niece, Judi’s, words: “You will always remain one of the most admired and loved people I have known in my life and that will not change after your ‘run’ is over.”

Sister Hayes’ health declined over the past year, and she was enrolled in hospice, but continued to come to Mass and to the dining room and to some activities. She participated in community reunions for as long as she was able. Always on the quieter side, she continued to communicate with her beautiful smile, though she grew thinner. On January 28, her health sharply declined, and hospice was contacted. Early in the morning of January 29, 2026, Sister Hayes went quietly home to the loving embrace of the God she had served so beautifully and quietly all her life.

A memorial Mass for Sister Hayes will take place on February 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in the Oakwood chapel. Memorial contributions in memory of Sister Lucy Hayes, RSCJ, may be made to the Society of the Sacred Heart, P.O. Box 958047, St. Louis, MO 63195-8047, or online at https://rscj.org/donate.