Sheila Maureen Hays

May 5, 1939 - March 11, 2020 SHEILA MAUREEN HAYS passed away after a lengthy illness on March 11, 2020 at the age of 80 at her beloved home in Riverside, CA. Sheila Maureen Coolberth was born on May 5, 1939 to Philip Coolberth and Mary Regan in Watertown, MA. Having grown up in a strong Irish Catholic household in Watertown and losing her father at a young age, Sheila left Watertown and embarked on the greatest adventure of her life. Sheila joined the United States Marine Corps. After completing Basic Training at Parris Island, Sheila was stationed at Camp Pendleton where she worked in telecommunications. It is at Camp Pendleton that she met and married Mike Rhodes. Together they had a son, Thomas, during their brief marriage. A few years later, she met and married a charming single dad in her same apartment complex, Johnny G. Hays, father to John C. Hays. Sheila and Johnny added to their blended family with yet another son, Shawn Hays. Sheila worked alongside Johnny at Kinney Shoe Stores throughout California and Oregon. She was also a meticulous housekeeper and mom who loved her children more than anything. Sheila lived in Riverside since 1976, and the USMC flag of which she was so proud still flies in front of that same home. She is survived by her loving husband Johnny G. Hays; her sons Thomas Rhodes, John C. Hays, and Shawn Hays; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; and her sister Kathleen Betts. Sheila was a pistol; funny, sassy, a huge Neil Diamond and Johnny Mathis fan, a proud Irish Catholic Bostonian, and a woman who never went out without her hair and makeup done. More than that though, she was an adoring mother and grandmother. Sheila embodied the saying, "Once a Marine always a Marine." Sheila was interred at Riverside National Cemetery on April 2, 2020.