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Memorial Service Planned for Margaret Hayes

Dec. 27, 2008 – Margaret Hayes died at the age of 84, on Tuesday, Dec. 23, at Gov. Juan Louis Hospital after a brief illness.
She is survived by her son, David; brothers: Harry and John Honnor; and sisters: Olwen Hudson and Mary Honnor. She is also survived by sister-in-law, Sara Hayes Arnaud; numerous nieces and nephews; and other friends and relatives too numerous to mention.
She was born in New Zealand in 1924 and was her school's valedictorian before training as a teacher in Australia and England from 1946 to 1948. She then went to work for Shell Oil in South America and was in Argentina the day Juan Peron came to power.
Margaret first came to St. Croix in 1955 while traveling on holiday from her work as a teacher and schoolmaster in Maracaibo, Venezuela. There she met Alfred Hayes at the Buccaneer and they were married on Jan. 30, 1956. Shortly thereafter, they opened Hayes & Co. as general merchants on land leased from Stacy Lloyd at Bassin. In 1964 she started Cruzan Gardens and in 1965 they bought R.S. Flemming & Co. and renamed it Cruzan Motors, selling GM and Isuzu automobiles.
Margaret's passion for learning and teaching was evidenced at Cruzan Gardens by the plants that she grew and the indigenous plants she promoted. After her sale of Cruzan Gardens, she worked tirelessly at the herbarium of St. George Village Botanical Gardens, cataloging all the plants of St. Croix and learning and understanding what people know about these plants. She became an authority on the plants of St. Croix and could identify and give the known history of any plant that was brought to her.
Her many friends will remember her as unstoppable and a deep well of knowledge.
A memorial service is being planned for the weekend of Jan. 24-25, at St. George Village Botanical Gardens, and information will be forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to St. George Village Botanical Gardens.

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