Bessie (Conner) Hays, 79, of Lexington, died Friday, March 23, 2007.

Mrs. Hays was born February 22, 1928 in Alleghany County, a daughter of the late John and Easter Coffey Conner.

She was a member of the Marlbrook Baptist Church in Fairfield and was a volunteer for the Ronald McDonald House in Charlottesville.

She was retired from the Virginia Employment Commission as a placement officer.

In addition to her husband, Mr. James Hays, Sr., Mrs. Hays was preceded in death by a sister, Mrs. Thelma Nicely and three brothers: John W., William A., and James E. Conner.

Surviving are seven daughters and sons-in-law: Donna and her husband Henry Cochran; Elaine and her husband Larry Tomlin, all of Buena Vista; Marsha and her husband Ray Humphrey of Staunton; Melody and her husband Herbert (Mickey) Berry of Raphine; Crystal Davis of Stuarts Draft; Glenna and her husband Steve Morris of Jacksonville, FL; and Alesia Bryant of Stuarts Draft; a son, James Hays, Jr. of Culpeper; three sisters: Helen Ayres of Lexington, Anna Conner of Selma and Betty Smith of Roanoke; seventeen grandchildren and twenty-eight great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren also survive.

A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, 2007 in the Harrison Funeral Home Chapel by the Rev. Terry Ayres. Burial will follow in the Collierstown Presbyterian Cemetery. Active pallbearers will be her grandsons. The family will receive friends Monday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Harrison Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the Ronald McDonald House in Charlottesville or the Rockbridge Area Hospice, 315 Myers Street Street, Lexington, VA. 24450.

The Harrison Funeral Home & Crematory in Lexington is in charge of the arrangements.