Virgil Haynes, of Oak Ridge, TN., died at home on Jan. 6,
2015. Mr. Haynes, the son of Millicent and Chester M.
Haynes, Sr., was born on Jan. 2, 1922 near Baker, Oregon.
His parents moved to a farm near Caldwell, Idaho in 1924
and he grew up there. Since June 1943, when he came to work
at Y-12 for the Tennessee Eastman Corp., he lived in Oak
Ridge. He had an Engineering degree from the University of
Idaho and was also a graduate of the Oak Ridge School of
Reactor Technology. Most of his working career was at the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, retiring from Martin
Marietta Energy Systems on Jan. 31, 1985 with over 41 years
of service.
He was a member of the American Chemical Society, the BPOE,
the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, The Fuller
Society, and was a founding board member of the East
Tennessee Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America. He
was honored by Phi Eta Sigma and Sigma Tau.
Survivors besides his wife, Dorothy, include, in
Birmingham, AL, a daughter, Linda Byrd, a granddaughter
Cassidy Byrd Nelson and husband Jody and
great-granddaughter Ayla of Knoxville; son Gary Haynes and
wife Laurel of Knoxville and her daughters Alyssa and
Colleen Moore, step-daughter Vicki Hancock,
step-granddaughter Angela Acuff and husband Bryan and their
children Rogan and Jurnee; and in South Carolina,
step-daughter Peggy Rosser, step-grandson Meca Ward and his
children Brittany, Whitney, and Meca, step-granddaughter
Carol and husband Keith Martin and their children Cody,
Kassidy, and Caleb, and step-granddaughter Rachel Rosser
and husband Joey McGee and children John David and Chloe
Barbara; and nieces Donna Lopez, Bonnie Eyre and nephew
Richard Haynes and many cousins in Idaho. He was preceded
in death by his mother and father, brother and
sister-in-law, and first wife, Juanita.
The family will receive friends Friday, January 9, 2015 at
Kern Memorial United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, TN., from
1 PM - 2:30 PM with funeral service to follow, the Rev.
Donald Morris officiating. The burial will then take place
at Oak Ridge Memorial Park. An online guest book may be
signed at weatherfordmortuary.com.
Memorials may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis
Society, the ET Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America,
or to the Kern Memorial United Methodist Church building
fund.
Sources:
- Center for Oak Ridge Oral History
- Ancestry.com. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
