Anne Keating “Keats” Hayden passed away peacefully at home August 25 after a two month illness. Born August 6, 1920 to Edwin and Anne Keating in New York City, she was the oldest of five. She attended Manhattenville College, majoring in English. Due to her major and her last name, friends nicknamed her Keats, by which she was known for the remainder of her life.
Keats married Richard “Dick” Hayden in 1944 on Long Island. Dick was then serving in the Army. They were stationed briefly in Panama and then at West Point. Starting with their first child in 1945, Keats had eleven children in the ensuing 13 years. They moved to Los Angeles in 1954, then to Orange County in 1955. The Haydens settled in the hills of Tustin in 1961 and raised their children in Lemon Heights.
Keats was a true Renaissance woman. A voracious reader until the end, she pursued numerous interests, studied calligraphy, ornithology, and Spanish among others. She was also an avid outdoors’ woman. She traveled to over 100 countries, was an active Sierra Club member for many years, hiked all the peaks in California as well as Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas. In addition, she was a member of the Orange County Wheelmen and rode in the RAGBRAI in 1981. She took up sea kayaking and cross country skiing in her 70ies. But her true love was swimming in the ocean near her Newport Beach home. In short, she was an inspiration to all who met her.
Keats was preceeded in death by her first husband, Richard to whom she was married for 39 years and second, Bill Gray to whom she was married 20 years. She is survived by eight of her children, 14 grand children and 7 great grand children. Her funeral mass will be celebrated Saturday August 30th at 11 a.m. at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, Newport Beach, CA. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Sierra Club