An Unassuming Man

Joe Hayes was born on the day that
President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on
Germany. Only a few days later the United States would enter
World War I. He has lived through six wars, the Roaring
Twenties, the Dust Bowl days, the Great Depression of the
1930s, the Cold War and the dawning of the nuclear
age.

Forever an optimist, at the age of 93, Joe
says every day is the best day of his life, even though he's
lived alone since the passing of his wife twenty years ago.
He wants the reader to know what it's like to live in a
small, wooden house with eleven other people and no indoor
plumbing. As a parent as well as a longtime coach, Joe wants
to share his memories of a loving family and the strong
moral values with which he was raised and that he passed on
to his children and his students.

Along the way,
Joe Hayes accomplished, as an outstanding athlete, a status
few other athletes can claim. Joe has lived his entire life
by a single philosphy: "Those who exalt themselves will be
humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
-Matthew 23:12