William J. Hayes, an artist who became a design-builder on the South Fork in the early 1970s, died on Dec. 14 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue after a long illness. He was 89.
His career as an artist began after his service in the Army in the Korean War. He opened an art gallery where he sold his own paintings along with those of other artists. He also gave lessons in oil painting, acrylics, watercolor, sculpture, and printmaking.
Mr. Hayes, who was known as Bill, had three children with his first wife, Doris.
Later, in New York, his family wrote, “he met the love of his life,” Laraine Bellini. The two were married on May 15, 1970.
In the early 1970s, the couple bought their first property on the South Fork. At that point Mr. Hayes began to design homes and became a design-builder. He built his first house on Roxbury Lane in Wainscott, and still owned it at the time of his death.
Over the next three decades Mr. Hayes designed and built homes from Montauk to Southampton, “utilizing his artistic skills, always concerned with the aesthetic details of each home,” his family wrote. And all the while he continued painting. His work still hangs in many houses on the South Fork.
Mr. Hayes and his wife traveled extensively together, including two round-the-world trips. “The more exotic and hard to get to and rugged, the better and more enjoyable it was,” according to his family. “Through all of their travels together, life in the Hamptons was always a refuge and a place for family and friends to gather. Together, afternoons were spent having lunch alfresco on the patio in the summertime, and enjoying fires in their matching leather armchairs listening to classical music in the winter.”
They divided their time among East Hampton, Manhattan, and Naples, Fla. In Manhattan Mr. Hayes enjoyed the New York Philharmonic, Off Broadway plays, museums, and Lincoln Center.
“Bill never lost his lust for life. He was always the most loving husband and goofiest and best grandpa,” his family wrote, describing him as “talented,” “always humorous,” and “stylish.”
“Bill was driven in anything that he found joy in, and excelled in whatever he put his mind to,” they said.
Mr. Hayes was born on Oct. 12, 1933, in Flushing, Queens, to William Hayes and the former Ellen Chaesty. He grew up there, the youngest of four children.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Hayes is survived by her sons, John Casey and Daniel Casey of East Hampton, and by his daughter, Nadine Schlissel of Great Neck and Wainscott, and his son Russell Hayes of Arizona. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Katherine Casey, Christopher Casey, Kelsey Casey, and Shelby Casey. A son, Mark Hayes, and a grandson, Corey Hayes, died before him.
A gathering to celebrate Mr. Hayes’s life will be held at the family’s house in East Hampton on Wednesday, December 28, from 4 to 6 p.m. Details can be had by calling 917-645-2696.
The family has suggested memorial donations to the East Hampton Village Police Department Benevolent Association, P.O. Box 1242, East Hampton 11937.
