William Keith Hayden
April 28, 1933-Sept. 14, 2022
William Keith Hayden, 89, of rural Crawfordsville passed away Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, having lived a long full life, interrupted occasionally by illness. He left his earthly home for Heaven, surrounded by family in a loving huddle.
“Bill” was the fifth of eight children born to his parents, the late Robert and Mary Hayden, on April 28, 1933. Bill graduated from Pike High School in 1951, where he had especially enjoyed ag and soil testing. Much as he appreciated and respected his teachers, he was enamored far more by his classmate and sweetheart, Arline Schooler, who he married on May 4, 1952. Heart full of happy memories, she survives.
Together they built up a farm with grain, livestock, pets and four children. The oldest, Diane, preceded Bill in death. Surviving are daughter, Carol (husband David Smith) of West Lafayette; son Greg (wife Sharon) of rural Crawfordsville; and son Dan (wife Jackie) of rural Crawfordsville. Bill bragged on his six grandkids, Brian, Kyle, Heather, Adam, Luke and Hannah. He loved getting their phone calls from Jacksonville, Seattle, Portland, Charleston, Cleveland, Anchorage and parts thereabout. Did we mention the beloved videos and skypes with great-grands, Mila and Elijah? They made his day. Bill also treasured phone calls and visits from his surviving siblings, brother Dean Hayden and sisters, Sharon Hatton and Linda Prage.
Bill was preceded in death by his older siblings, Bob Jr., Ray, Mary Ellen and John.
In addition to his love of the land, crops, livestock and nature, Bill also liked to putter and fix things. He was a jack of all trades. He first welded at Heatherington-Berner in Indianapolis, drove a delivery route for Farm Bureau fuel, was a mechanic for John Deere and Oliver equipment dealers, services equipment for Terra Knife in Crawfordsville and was a repairman and plant electrician for Impex in Crawfordsville. When the economy shifted, jobs took him to Lebanon, where he worked as a mechanic for Commercial Filters, and then later for Lau Industries as a plant engineer. After all those years of working, retirement and country life were richly enjoyed. Oh, the stories — especially ones about his woodworking projects and how he restored old tired tractors.
Bill has always been a man of faith and has worked hard on behalf of a number of churches over the years. Most recently, he has been a member of the Whitesville Christian Church. If you were leaning toward sending flowers, (no pressure), family requests that donations be made to the church instead.
Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16 at Whitesville Christian Church, 3603 S. Ladoga Road, Crawfordsville. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 at the Whitesville Christian Church. Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lebanon. We are so grateful for Bill’s life.
