- Date Of Birth: April 10, 1921
- Date Of Death: February 23, 2016
- State: Illinois
Helen Lucille Hayes Cruzan, 94, of Jacksonville, died Tuesday, February 23, 2016, at OSF Richard L. Owens Hospice Home in Peoria.
She was born April 10, 1921, in Prentice, the daughter of Augustus Jennings Hayes and Bertha Elsie Creed Hayes. She married Richard Garrett Cruzan in Tennessee on January 2, 1954. He preceded her in death in 1990.
She is survived by her daughter Jeanenne (John) Plevka of Morton; four grandchildren, Hannah (Mike) Schulte of Morton, Reid (Brittany) Plevka of Normal, Richard Garrett Cruzan of Morganfield, Ky., and Helen Plevka of Charleston; and one great-granddaughter, Elsie Schulte; and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by two sons, Ricky Warren Cruzan (2015) and Ronald Garrett Cruzan (2011); and seven brothers and sisters: Starr Olita Hayes Flinn (1981), Byron Creed Hayes (1977), Orvel Raymond Hayes (1969), Elsie Hazel Hayes Ashburn (1982), Opal Avaniel Hayes Clemons (1994), Oakleigh Le Roy “Shorty” Hayes (1961) and Mary Jo Hayes Rich (2008).
Mrs. Cruzan was a 1938 graduate of Ashland High School. During World War II, she worked at NESCO in Jacksonville. She was a homemaker who enjoyed preparing a roast beef or lasagna dinner for her family. She enjoyed rocking and simply watching her grandchildren grow up and her great-granddaughter play.
