Alice Marie Jefferson Hayes was born in McAlester, Oklahoma, on February 23, 1934, to Wallace Jefferson and Delphia Pearce Jefferson. Alice was the fifth and middle child.

Alice’s father was a farmer and a coal miner. He also was an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Alice was 3/8 Choctaw and 1/8 Chickasaw. When Alice was young, it was common for American Indian children in Oklahoma to be sent to Indian boarding schools. Alice attended Carter Seminary (Grades K-8) in Ardmore, Oklahoma, which was 116 miles from her home in McAlester. She traveled home during summer break.

Alice attended high school at Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University) in Lawrence, Kansas. There, she lived and studied with Indian teens from all over the country. Each summer, she returned home to her family. Smart, beautiful, and popular, Alice was elected Football Queen her sophomore year. She graduated in 1953 and matriculated to the University of Kansas. She was the first in her family, and the only one of her 8 siblings, to attend college. Alice wanted to be a schoolteacher, one of the few professional occupations open to women at that time. In addition to her full-time class load, Alice worked two campus jobs to pay for college. Her third job was to help care for an elderly deaf woman.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in 1957, Alice accepted a teaching position at an elementary school in Tucson, Arizona. The first car she bought was turquoise—her favorite color. From Tucson, she drove to Lawrence, Kansas, every summer to work on her master’s degree. During one of these trips, Alice met her future husband, Keith Hayes, on the University of Kansas campus, where he was finishing law school. Alice and Keith married in 1961 and would eventually settle in Shawnee, Kansas. They had three children: Keith Quentin, Ann Marie, and Lara Lynne.

Alice taught in Kansas City, Kansas, before accepting a position in the Shawnee Mission School District in 1962. She took a break from teaching when her children were born, but returned to teaching in 1976. She taught 5th grade at Flint Elementary School in Shawnee for most of her career. There, she was respected by colleagues and parents for being a tough but caring teacher who could help even the most academically challenged students learn to read. In 1991, she took early retirement to care for her father-in-law, who was dying of cancer. Alice once said that if hospice care had been a career option in the 1950s, she would have chosen hospice over teaching.

Alice used early retirement to continue helping family and friends. Her happiest time was spent helping to raise her grandchildren, Delphia, Harper, and Asher, who lived next door. She babysat, prepared meals, baked cookies, drove the kids to music and dance lessons and soccer practice, and taught them reading and manners. But most importantly, she listened. Like many grandparents, Alice found raising her grandchildren more rewarding than raising her own children because freedom from career obligations gave her more time to focus her attention on the little ones. She also looked forward to visits from her grandson Quentin, who lived out of state. Alice loved her grandchildren, and they loved her.

Alice enjoyed baking cookies, cakes, bread, and pies for family and friends, and she often sent baked treats with her son-in-law, Will, to his fire station. She prepared special birthday cakes for the grandchildren when they were young, and everyone in the family could expect a chocolate cake on their birthday. When her eyesight started to fail from glaucoma, Alice asked her grandchildren to help her read recipes and measure ingredients. Harper and Asher became good bakers while spending time with their grandmother.

Alice enjoyed sewing, quilting, and embroidering, and gave what she made as gifts. She sewed clothes for the grandchildren and embroidered countless tea towels. She chose fabric with“loud” (Alice’s word) colors and busy patterns to sew teddy bears for neighbors with babies, loved ones in the hospital, and anyone else she thought might need or want a bear. Alice’s daughters called her colorful creations “wild bears.”

Alice had many talents, but her special gift was letter writing. Throughout her life, she wrote many letters to friends and relatives. Her letters conveyed joy, warmth, a sense of humor, concern, and curiosity. She wrote about simple things she observed or enjoyed: hummingbirds, flowers, trips to the Minnesota’s North Shore, delicious meals, KU basketball, birthday cakes, and funny things her grandchildren said or did. She loved Quentin, Delphia, Harper, and Asher very much and loved to describe their unique personalities and talents. Alice also shared her worries in these letters, including the declining health of her husband and son, and other loved ones. But regardless of the topic, her letters were positive and upbeat, never judgmental, and a joy to read.

Alice had settled into retirement and found much joy caring for family and friends. However, her heart was broken in 2018 when her son, Keith, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. After Keith died in 2020, Alice and Keith struggled with the profound grief parents experience after losing a child.

Alice Marie Jefferson Hayes was smart, caring, beautiful, and resilient. She lived a long life, and her concern for others touched the hearts of so many. Her family misses her generosity and compassion, her smile and her laughter, her funny stories and her sense of humor. They miss her letters and telephone conversations. And, of course, they miss her chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, and lemon bars.

Alice was preceded in death by her parents, her son, Keith, and 8 siblings. Her husband, Keith, followed her in death, passing away on October 24, 2025. Alice is survived by two daughters: Ann Marie Hayes-Hawkinson (Ken Hawkinson), Macomb, IL; Lara Hayes (Will Hallagin), Shawnee, KS; and 6 grandchildren: Keith Quentin Hayes III (Danville, VA); Delphia Marie Hallagin, Harper Alice Hallagin, and Asher Craig Hallagin, Shawnee, KS; Keith Christopher Hayes and Sophia Hayes (Rock Springs, WY).