Luz Maria Hayes

Luz Maria Hayes passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on the morning of 5 May 2025. Born Maria de la Luz (Mary of the Light) Lugo in Cardenas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico on December 31, 1939, Luz lived up to her name with her shining personality that endeared her to everyone she met. Small in stature and large in life, she wielded a sharp wit and sense of humor that brought smiles and laughter to every occasion. In response to her bright presence, even complete strangers would go out of their way to please and help her.

Luz had a strong spiritual connection that guided her throughout her life. From the daunting task of emigrating to the US as a teenager, to developing her career in banking and navigating her family through turbulent times, her prayers to the ancestors and saints kept her on her spiritual path.

Luz gave back to the community through her volunteer work and generosity. She didn’t hesitate to help someone in need in any way she was capable. She regularly donated to Doctors Without Borders and local organizations through funding drives and events. She was gentle and caring with children, especially, as well as animals in need.

After arriving in Dayton, Ohio in 2009, she became involved with Ascension Catholic Church and volunteered with the school’s Spanish club. She helped others to understand different cultures and how to share their own culture. She was an active member of the Ascension Twinning Committee and helped to organize the annual Fiesta Latina with the parish in Lima, Peru. She also participated in the Christ Renews His Parish retreat in 2010 and remained an active and beloved member of a small group of women from that experience who met regularly for spiritual study, fellowship, and friendship. It was with a heavy heart that she had to withdraw from these activities when she became seriously ill in the last years of her life. She missed the interaction and joy of making a difference.

Luz is survived by her brother, Ignacio; three daughters, Patricia, Lisa, and Michelle; six grandchildren, Alexandria, Lea, Anna-Maria, Aleyna, Aidan, and Cameron; and six great-grandchildren, Trevin, Jovan, Arabella, Nadia, Lillia, and Delilah. She was preceded in death by nine brothers and sisters as well as her parents, Eulalio and Carlota.

In her last few days, we watched her reconnect with those who preceded her in death, and she became joyous and carefree as she told us about the “gatherings” she was attending. Her last acts were to bless and kiss her children and tell them all she loved them. While we, her family, will miss her dearly here on earth, we know that Saint Peter will be greeting her with a big smile, a glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other, as she joins that big family gathering in the afterlife.

A visitation will be held at Ascension Catholic Church at 10:00 a.m. on 7 May 2025, followed by a mass, then burial at the St Kateri Preserve in Calvary cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made in Luz’s name to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Ave., Dayton, OH 45420, https://www.ohioshospice.org/dayton/ We thank them for their help and support in making mom’s final days comfortable. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.routsong.com.