Leon H. Hayen

Leon Hayen was born on July 6, 1927, in Marion County, Grant Township, the son of Walter and Dorothy Collett Hayen.   He was the oldest of six children; Virginia, Marilyn, John, Max and Carmen followed.  He went to grade school in a two-room schoolhouse across the road from his childhood church, Youngtown Evangelical United Brethren.   He had many fond memories of growing up on the farm, at the western edge of the Kansas Flint Hills that he loved so much.   He knew the family horses’ names by heart (Dale and Betty), long after many other memories had faded away.   He talked about family outings to his grandparents' place, who lived along Middle Creek.  Dad loved to hunt, especially with his lifelong friend Bill Higgins. (He used a gun he had purchased for twenty dollars; money earned from sweeping floors at the general store when he was eight years old.)  He graduated from Marion High School, class of 1945.  His football team went undefeated in the fall of 1944. He wanted to join the Navy and fly planes.  He even went to the Navy Airfield at Herington to see about it, but they had too many pilots already.   He joined the navy anyway and got to Hawaii, just as hostilities ended. He worked for a high-ranking officer as a clerk, Yeoman Third Class, in a position he was appointed to after admitting he had taken a typing class in high school. His big war story was riding home on leave before he shipped out.  It was nighttime and the train derailed.  He pushed a window open and jumped out only to find that he was on a bridge.  He and another fellow rolled down a sandy embankment.  The train conductor asked dad to walk back with a lantern a mile or so to stop the next train coming along.   He hated driving a car under a railroad overpass for the rest of his life.

After the war ended, he decided to go to college in Iowa and play football at Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa.   He met mom there and they were married on August 17, 1948.   He thought about becoming a draftsman in the Twin Cities, and even tried farming in Minnesota.  But farming up there is not like farming in Kansas.   He chose instead to go into the ministry and attended seminary in Naperville Illinois.   He served several churches in Illinois, including Streator and Ransom.  Before we get much further it should be noted that for many years afterwards, dad and mom kept in touch with people from these churches, and churches that followed, forging lifelong friendships, that even included vacationing with them.  He went on to pastor at Orlando Oklahoma, El Dorado, Pittsburg, Hiawatha, and Topeka (twice), as well as serving in the role of district superintendent in Ottawa.  After retirement he filled in at several churches for pastors on leave or with health problems.  He also filled in for his good friend Jim Stigall in Alaska by driving the shack on wheels up there for several weeks one summer.  This allowed the Stigalls to come home to Kansas, where they stayed at mom and dad's house part of that time.  Dad also flipped a house, (the old house in North Topeka), built his own home, and in earlier years helped build Grandpa Thomas’ house at Cedar Island Lake, in Richmond Minnesota.  After he and mom retired, they went on Nomad trips, including spending a long fall in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, after Hurricane Katrina serving those who had lost everything.  Dad was very active in Habitat for Humanity, kinda before it was cool to do that.  He voted for Sen. George McGovern following the Watergate scandal, He was one of the old-time strong Republicans who did a full flip to the Democrat Jimmy Carter.  He built a sailboat in his garage in El Dorado, had a pilot’s license while living in Oklahoma, loved to play the card game Rook, was known for his expressive remarks (I don’t give an Iota, Paul Schal, compunction), to name a few.  Also, while living in ElDorado, Dad planted grapevines.  Those vines moved right along with them and are growing in the backyard at his retirement home in west Topeka. He loved to travel! By train or bus in their RV, or even in a canoe floating down the river. To be honest, he just liked to go.  When they went to Alaska, they drove this RV known as the “Shack on Wheels.” (Long lime green shag carpeting from the early 70’s in the 90’s kinda deal.)  He couldn’t grill worth a lick, but he loved to bar-b-que.  He rode a bike (motorcycle) to work at First Methodist in the 1970’s in Topeka. He grew a beard three times, once to portray a circuit riding preacher in the bicentennial, and to marry two granddaughters at Renaissance Festivals, where he was dressed like a friar.

He loved to garden, plant fruit trees, and mow the lawn on his little John Deere tractor, which he also used to pull his grandkids around in. He worked on the family farm in Marion County, especially the wheat harvest each summer.   He thought he was an expert watermelon and apple taster.  He hated baked potatoes, or potatoes in any form except French Fries, because he ate too many growing up, and once had to ride on a pile of them on the back of a truck all the way to his uncle’s place in Wyoming. If you make Jello, it must have fruit in it. Plain Jello means times are lean. He loved Len Dawson, hated George Blanda (Old Chiefs/Raiders thing), and always liked to go to a few Royals games each year.   He enjoyed going home to the farm for Thanksgiving, and in later years to serve at the Topeka Community Thanksgiving Dinner.  Dad had a passion for service and volunteered a lot, such as at Lunch Bunch with Cate, in various churches, serving friends, and helping his children and grandkids.   He was the church Care Pastor for years, calling on church members at hospitals and nursing homes.  In the 1990s he dove into genealogy. Many adventures were had going to cemeteries across the country, as well as delivering his findings to distant relatives.   He enjoyed writing, mostly stories about his life and travels in diaries that he kept.  He like to kill time in the shed in his backyard cracking walnuts or trapping and relocating the squirrels.

Leon is survived by his children, Robert Hayen (Shelia) of Yukon, Oklahoma, Marlene O’Neal (Dave) of Manhattan, Kansas, Scott Hayen (Kelley) of Topeka, and Janet Diemer of Castle Pines, Colorado; 10 grandchildren; 13 great grandchildren; his brother Max Hayen (Donna) of Marion; sisters, Virginia Downing of Marion and Carmen Parrack of Plano, Texas.

He was preceded in death by his wife Catherine Hayen; son-in-law John “Jack” Diemer; brother, John Hayen; sister, Marilyn Geis; and two brothers-in-law, Dave Thomas and Robert Geis.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 pm on Friday June 2, 2023, at First United Methodist Church in Topeka.  Inurnment and graveside services with military honors will be conducted at 11:00 am on Saturday June 3, 2023, at the Grant Township Cemetery east of Marion.  Memorial contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity or to Topeka North Outreach.   www.davidsonfuneral.com