Jo Anne Hayes died on February 18, 2021 in Mission Hills, Kansas. She was born June 26, 1933, in Waukegan, Illinois, the only child of Waldo W. and Elizabeth (Thomas) Hagnauer. She attended grade and high schools in Waukegan and graduated in 1955 from the University of Illinois, where she was a member of Delta Gamma.  She met her husband, Bob, the first week of her freshman year. He was her first and lifelong love. They were married for 59 years.

Following Bob’s Navy service, they lived in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where they raised two daughters, Cindy and Meg.

In Chicago, Jo’s activities included Park Ridge School for Girls Junior Board, the Northwest Suburban Delta Gamma Alumnae, Inverness Book Club, Questors, Arlington Heights Beautification Council, and the northwest suburban chapters of The Chicago Art Institute and Children’s Memorial Hospital. She was also a small business owner and served as executive director of the Harper College Educational Foundation.

In 1989, Jo and Bob retired to Mission Hills to be near their daughters and their families. In Kansas City, her interests centered on Symphony League, Greater Kansas City Delta Gamma Alumnae, the Vanderslice Committee of Kansas City Art Institute, and The Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired.

Jo and Bob enjoyed many years of worldwide travels. Special to her were 10 years of grandmother-granddaughter trips. She also loved spending summers on the couple’s boat on Lake Michigan and at a home in Door County, Wisconsin.

Jo loved her handwritten correspondence with far-flung friends. She always sent handwritten thank-you notes, too — and, to her family’s chagrin, expected them in return.

She lived a long and lovely life with a husband she deeply loved, children and grandchildren she cherished, and friendships she treasured.

Jo is survived by her daughters, Cindy Worthy Perucca (Kirk) of Prairie Village, Kansas, and Meg Duggan of Kansas City, Missouri; and her grandchildren Paige Worthy (Mark Wrobel) of Chicago, Holly Worthy (Tony Bates) of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Christopher Duggan of Kansas City, Missouri.

According to her wishes, she will be cremated, and there will be no services. Her ashes, along with Bob’s, will be scattered at places they loved during their 63 years together.

In lieu of flowers, please send remembrances to the Robert Hayes Scholarship Fund at Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City (4001 Blue Parkway, Suite 102, Kansas City, MO 64130), The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014), or a charitable organization in which you and Jo shared an interest.