Henrietta (Wise) Hay
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3D Obituary - August 2, 2020
Henrietta
Wise Hay
April 24, 1914 - July 25, 2020
Henrietta Wise Hay, age 106,
passed away July 25, 2020.
She was born on April 24,
1914, when her parents lived
in Rocky Ford, Colorado, and
moved with them as a child to
Englewood, Colorado.
She is survived by her
children, John (Ruth Murphy)
and David (Jolanta Hay); grandchildren, Ian Hay, Pamela Hay
Sharp (Paul Sharp), and Bob Hay (Lauren Feldman Hay), and four
great-grandchildren.
A resident of Grand Junction since 1945, she was a weekly
columnist for The Daily Sentinel from 1988 through 2010,
entertaining, informing, and occasionally annoying the residents of
the Western Slope. Her son, Dave, organized and posted her columns
at https://www.davehay.com/henrietta/. She was a broadcaster on
Grand Junction radio stations in the 1940s and 1960s, and was
a librarian at the Mesa County Public Library for more than 25
years. She was one of the founders of the Western Slope chapter
of the National Organization for Women, served on the Colorado
Women’s Rights Commission, and was active in women’s rights
issues throughout her life. She was particularly proud of her letter
“C,” which was denied her when she graduated from the University
of Colorado in 1934 because women did not get varsity athletic
letters at that time, but which she finally received in the early 2000s
when the University retroactively awarded them to female athletes
from earlier years.
Her family specifically acknowledges and thanks her friends,
Terry Pickens and Lorraine Jensen, for all the love, care, and
assistance they have given her throughout the years. We would also
like to thank the staff of The Commons, where she lived from 2004
through 2019; the caregivers at HopeWest, who looked after her for
the past few years; and those at La Villa Grande Care Center, where
she lived for the past year.
There will be no services at this time. Donations, in memory
of Henrietta Hay, can made at: www.HopeWestCO.org or mailed
to HopeWest, 3090B N. 12th St., Grand Junction, CO 81506. A
celebration of her life will be held as soon as it is safe to do so
