Robert "Bob" Hayes - Bust Unveiling
(Halifax, NS - Saturday, October 17th, 2-15) The Bob Hayes bust now has a permanent home in the Homburg Center lobby, thanks to his players who were the driving force behind the construction of the bust to honour their former coach.
In 2014 while celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Saint Mary’s Huskies’ first Atlantic Bowl (now Uteck Bowl) win, members of the team decided that a permanent monument to their Coach, Bob Hayes, should be commissioned and placed in a prominent position on campus. In 1989 while acknowledging the 25th Anniversary, the ’64 team embarked upon endowing a scholarship in Coach Hayes’ name. Today this provides a $1500 scholarship to a deserving football player.
Paul Puma and Dave Murphy, ’64 teammates, were given the mandate to oversee the construction of a bronzed bust of Coach Hayes. After seeking and receiving permission from Heather Hayes and the Hayes family and the University Administration, the project began in December of 2014.
A sculptor, Douglas Squarek, was commissioned and fund raising began. Because of the scope of this project, it was decided to include other student-athletes and friends of Coach Hayes in the solicitation of funds. One of the amazing and most gratifying aspects of this project was, not only were people immediately gracious and willing to donate to the project, but they also offered many kind and funny stories of how Coach Hayes impacted their lives. Some of the comments we heard most frequently were: “it’s about time Bob was recognized for his body of work at Saint Mary’s”; “great initiative long overdue”; “Coach changed my whole life around and gave me the confidence to succeed”; “Coach made me a better person”; As I look back on my time at Saint Mary’s, the two people who have had the greatest impact on my life were Fr. Hennessey and Coach Hayes, they were quite a team”.
Thank you to all contributors for both your financial assistance and shared experiences. A special thanks goes to Jim Stewart and Dick Franklyn for organizing the class of ’69 and Friends who were very instrumental in the success of this project.
We hope that with the presence of his bust on campus, Coach Hayes will remind all of the rich history, culture and traditions of athletics at Saint Mary’s University.
Donors:
Dr. Michael Antle*, Frank Archambault*, Steve Armitage*, Bill Baldwin*, Susan Beazley, Eric Beddis**, Chuck Bridges, Jim Brown & Family, Roman Bukata**, Daryl Burgess*, Richard Butler**, Dr. Owen Carrigan, Carlo China**, Mike Cole*, Jim Dimitroff**, Vic DiNardo**, Dr. Colin Dodds, Dick Franklyn**, The Florio Family**, Heather Hayes & Family, Rick Hayes**, Hans Himmelman, Mike Hornby, Keith Hotchkiss, Bob Johnston*, Terry Johnston**, Wayne Kirk, Walter Kozak**, Blair Lopes**, Jack Lyons*, Tim Lyons*, Fred MacGillivary, John Mills**, Bill Mullane, Kathy Mullane, Dr. David Murphy*, Don Murphy*, John B. Murphy*, Skip Oliver*, John Osidach**, Dr. Ken Ozmon, Paul Puma*, Sharon Rajaraman, Dr. Jerry Reardon, Jerry Redmond*, Hon. Gerald Regan, Resolutes Amateur Athletics Club, Dr. Bob Ruotolo*, John Schneider*, Reynolds Shepherd**, George Smith **, Jim Stewart**, SMU Athletics, Ernie Turek**, Derek (Hoss) Watson, Murray Wilson, Debi Woodford ~ *’64 team, **Class of ‘69
The photo above was taken by Mona Ghiz and features members of the Hayes family.