Sheila Hayes

Sheila M. Hayes, 75, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on June 1, 2024. She passed in Vero Beach, Florida.

Cremation has taken place. A short ceremony and burial will be held on Monday, July 1st at 10am at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. 

Sheila was born on April 28, 1949, to Robert and Norma Brenner in McLaughlin, SD. She was the oldest of four and loved her siblings dearly. She graduated from McIntosh High School in 1967 and joined the U.S. Navy upon graduation. 

Following her time in the Navy, Sheila pursued an accounting degree from San Diego State University while also working, and raising her two young children, Dana and James.

In 1983, she moved back to South Dakota to be close to her family. Staying in the region, she relocated to Bismarck, ND, in 1986. She moved to Nebraska in 1996 to be near her daughter and her growing family; and in 2004 moved with them to Orlando. 

Her son served in the Army for 26 years. Sheila loved traveling to his various duty stations to spend time with him, her daughter-in-law, and her grandchildren. Visiting her granddaughter in Grand Forks also brought her so much joy.

Sheila treasured time with her family and often flew back to the Dakotas to visit and spend the holidays with her siblings, nieces and nephews and their families.

While living in Florida, Sheila dedicated over a decade working tirelessly for Pioneers, a Christian mission organization headquartered in Orlando. She cherished the deep and lasting friendships she made with those she worked with and those she helped. 

She moved to Vero Beach, Florida, in 2022 and was blessed with many friends and a vibrant, supportive community.

Sheila delighted in being “Grammy” to her twelve grandchildren and “Great-Grammy” to her recently born great-granddaughter. She also relished her role as Auntie.

Her children remember her as a sacrificial, loving, hardworking, and devoted woman of God.

She is survived by her children, Dana (Douglas) MacCraw and James (Susan) Hayes; twelve grandchildren, Ashely, Alec, Austin, Garrison, Paul, Kasin, Carson, Rylin, Sawyer, Zaelin, Hayden, and Corlin; great-granddaughter, Korra; siblings Sidney (Melva) Brenner, Cynthia (Perry) Schnabel, and Jeffrey (Barbara) Brenner. She is also survived by nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews as well as extended family members and friends whom she dearly loved.

She is preceded in death by her father Robert Brenner and her mother Norma Brenner.