KREN LAYS

Mr. Lays passed away of stomach cancer August 14, 1978, at St Lukes Hospital in Tempe, Arizona surrounded by his family. He was born at home, the youngest of six children, May 11, 1908 in Brockton, Massachusetts to Mary Snow Clark and William Lays. He was proceeded in death by his parents and one sister Elsie May Lays. He is survived by his wife, Melba Prior Lays; his son, Wayne, daughters Jenna, Karen Sue and Debbi; two brothers Karl and Earl; and one sister Ruby (Lays) Norman. He was a mason and was given a Masonic burial. He joined the Army at the end of WWI at the age of 15 for 6 months. He hitchhiked across the country and worked on a cattle ranch in Texas. He worked in the oil fields in Corpus Christi, Texas. He married Melba Francis Prior in November 1940. He joined the Army again in (approx.) 1944 at the end of WWII. In WWII he was stationed in Okinawa. He returned from the Army and was hired on by the Navy as a foreman for B52 bomber aircraft mechanics at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. The naval air station closed down in 1959 and he took a position at the Coronado Naval Air Station at Coronado California. He retired and moved to Tempe, Arizona. He was self educated and self sufficient. He left school in the eighth grade after the loss of his father. He took a job delivering beer kegs by horse and wagon to help support his mother after his father's death. He had a natural mechanical ability. His hobbies were gardening, camping and rebuilding auto engines. He was so strong that he'd lift the engine out of the car and set it on his work bench by himself. It would usually be completed in one day. In 1948 he built his own home by himself from the ground up. Sgt US Army WWII * * * * Pvt US Army WWI