William 'Bud' Hayward

February 23, 1923 - March 14, 2023

Born in Pasadena in 1923, Bud passed into the hands of our Lord three weeks after his 100th birthday. Bud received his nickname from his older brother Robert who called him Buddy. He grew up in South Pasadena when it was a rural community. His father Samuel Hayward and mother Andrea Kirkes Hayward raised his sisters Jane '44 and Nancy '51 and his brother Robert '39 in their home which included horses that they rode and explored the undeveloped hills and canyons adjacent to their house. Bud is the last surviving member of his siblings.

Sam and Andrea camped and traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe with all their children in a 'camp car' that Sam had created from a Cadillac by cutting off the roof and making the first camper type vehicle to carry children and their belongings on their travels. One of Bud's most memorable trips while Bud was still a teenager, was when they shipped the car and sailed to Europe in an ocean liner in the late 1930s. Bud recalled that when they traveled in the camp car through Europe, he and his brother Robert would lie on a mattress on the roof of the camp car which brought much attention from the locals. When they entered Germany in 1938 he was struck by the Nazi presence and the marching Brown Shirt Hitler youth in the streets. He was shaken by the militaristic atmosphere as World War II was about to begin.

Following their European travels, during high school Bud took night courses and learned the machinists trade in addition to his high school curriculum. Bud graduated from SPHS in 1941 and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve that same year and enrolled at Occidental College. Bud suffered from a speech impediment so he decided to join the college's speech department. He learned to slow down the pace of his speech by participating in plays offered by the drama department as well as engaging in radio performances.

He was not called up to active duty until the summer of 1943 and was sent back to Occidental College as part of the V-12 Naval Reserve Program. In order to graduate before his active duty was to begin, Bud took two semesters of courses carrying 25 to 30 units and graduated a year early with a degree in economics in the winter of 1944.

Bud's life changed dramatically when he entered the Navy. He attended Officer Candidate School at Plattsburgh, New York and trained in Miami, Florida, before being assigned to the South Pacific. He was stationed in the Admiralty Islands off of New Guinea, and in the Philippines in Leyte Gulf and at Puerto Princessa on the island of Palawan. As a 22-year-old officer, Bud was made captain of an Air-Sea Rescue boat also known as a 'crash boat.' Crash boats were 63-foot armed rescue boats, similar to a PT boat, deployed to save air crews who crashed or ditched their planes. Bud served nearly two years, leading a six-man crew, navigating the boat through treacherous waters in order to save the lives of naval airmen and support the Navy's mission as the war came to an end. Bud described the work as a crash boat captain as "demanding - your life depended upon your ability to navigate."

Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Bud returned to Southern California and went to work for his father at Hayward Lumber. The company had 16 lumber yards, two sawmills and operated various businesses. He learned all the aspects of the lumber business from cutting trees, operating a lumber mill in Oregon, to building houses during the post World War II building boom. In 1955 Bud left Hayward Lumber and began building residential homes in Southern California where he built 500 homes over the next 10 years.

In 1960 Bud bid upon and received a use permit to build and operate the June Mountain ski area in June Lake, California, just north of the famous Mammoth Mountain ski area in the Eastern Sierras. Despite the many difficulties he faced, Bud persevered through financial difficulties and the hardships of being a 'snow farmer.' He credits God for his success and said he was encouraged to never quit so "I never quit." He operated the ski area until 1986 when he sold it to Mammoth Mountain.

His record of public service included acting as president of the Tustin Unified School District and on the June Lake Planning Commission. He testified before Congress on two occasions with respect to Use Permits and Public Lands. He is a former regional vice president of the Defense Orientation Conferences Association, an organization focused on our national defense preparedness, visiting 14 foreign countries and over 35 military bases in the United States.

As a member of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, he was an active sailor and raced Olympic Class Solings and Etchells sailboats. In addition, Bud was an avid tennis player and was one of the original members of the San Onofre Surf Club. From his experiences dealing with the U.S. Forest Service at June Mountain Ski Area, Bud was motivated to alert people that their liberties and freedoms have been eroded away by a vigorous and persistent Federal government. In line with this, he wrote and published a book after eight years of research, How the West Was Lost, The Theft and Usurpation of State's Property Rights. Bud was an avid believer in the founding principles of this country, the United States Constitution and a supporter of the Republican Party. He will always be remembered as a true Patriot.

Bud lived with his wife of 68 years, 'Bunkie' Lois Bunker Hayward in Santa Ana, California, in the home he built in 1955. Bunkie passed on to our Lord at the family home in 2021. Bud died peacefully in his home surrounded by his faithful caretakers and his son, Scott.

He is survived by his four children and their spouses, Steven (Debbie) Hayward, Tracy Hayward, William (Linda) Hayward, and Scott (Teresa) Hayward, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Submitted by the Hayward Family