Father Hayes dies in Gautier BILOXI — Father Patrick E. Hayes, 59, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Gautier, died June 26, in his rectory, following a brief battle with cancer.
Born in Portlaoise, County Laoise, Ireland, on St. Stephen’s Day, Dec. 26, 1947, he attended local schools before going on to St. Patrick Seminary College, Carlow, Ireland. He was ordained on June 12, 1971, by Bishop Joseph Brunini in his home parish, St. Joseph Church, Mountmellick, Ireland, where he had been baptized, confirmed, and received his First Communion.
He arrived in the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson on Aug. 25, 1971.
He served in the following parishes: St. John the Evangelist Parish in Gulfport, Our Lady of the Gulf Parish, Bay St. Louis; as a priest and school chaplain in Paulstown, Kilkenny, Ireland, from 1977 to 1982 returning to the Diocese of Biloxi in September 1982. He then served at Sacred Heart Parish, Pascagoula, St. Joseph Parish in Moss Point and its mission of St. Ann in Hurley. He had served as pastor at St. Mary in Gautier for nearly 10 years.
He was diagnosed with mesothelioma (a lung cancer) this past Easter.
“God knows what he is doing. He has a plan,” Father Hayes said, “We are like children we just don’t understand or comprehend our Father’s plan for us, so often.”
He leaves behind two siblings, Mercy Sister Enda Hayes and Dermot Hayes and his wife, Cathy; two nephews, Dr. Brian Hayes and Peter Hayes, all from Dublin, Ireland, and an aunt, Franciscan Sister Monica Hayes, of Florida.
A prayer service and visitation were held June 28, and a Mass of Christian Burial was Friday, June 29, at St. Mary Church. Burial was in the cemetery in his home town in Mountmellick, Ireland, close to the graves of his parents and grandparents.
Memorials may be made to Resurrection Catholic School, 3704 Quinn Drive, Pascagoula, MS 39581.
St. Joseph Church, Mountmellick, Ireland, where he had been baptized, confirmed, and received his First Communion. 