Grace J. Hayden Schulte

Memorials may be made to Pathways Hospice. SCHULTE, Grace Hayden, O'Fallon, MO, April 7, 2007 age 97; dearest wife of 48 years to the late Reynolds C. Hayden, Sr. and dearest wife of Lee Schulte; dear mother of Mary Helen Hayden Stovall, Barbara Hayden, R.C. Hayden, Jr. (Becky), Dorothy Hayden Long (Donald), Joseph Hayden (Jonelle) and Jane Hayden Becker; also survived by 3 sisters and 1 brother; preceded in death by her parents, 1 sister and 6 brothers; beloved grandmother of 9, great-grandmother of 8 and great-great-grandmother of 2; she was a loving aunt, cousin and friend to many. Mrs. Schulte was a Housekeeper for St. John's Mercy Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri for 2 years before her retirement. My Memories of My Beloved Grammy By Amber Capstick "I" wanna rock, I wanna rock" I would say when I was little as I jumped up on her lap while she was sitting in her rocking chair. My Grammy looked over me and took care of me when I was younger and had my many ear infections. I don't think there was a better medicine than being with her during those times. She just knew how to make me comfy. Some of my best memories of my Grammy include baking cookies, specifically SnickerDoodles - and as simple as those cookies are, no one made them better then her. I also had an odd fondness of raw onions that seemed to come about only when I was at her house. She would cut them in chunks and I would gnaw away at it like it was candy. Ugh... One story that she would talk about every time I went to visit her was my confusion over pears vs. grapes when I was little. I don't recall this but it seems that I would mistakenly gaze up at the pear trees in her yard point and state "Grapes." This was always one of her favorite conversational pieces when I would visit. I remember her passion for square dancing and I admired her so much for it that someone made me one of those skirts (they probably have a name but I will just call it a square dancing skirt) and I actually wore it to a father daughter dance when I was little. Of course I was the ONLY kid with one of these - every other little girl was wearing jeans at the event but I looked darn cute. I believe that my Grammy was the most determined and proud person I knew. What else can you say about someone that is able to drive a car until she is in her 90's, live on her own and take care of herself? She was amazing to me. Even with her several stays in the hospital last year she always kept saying that she had things she needed to do and was not going to be leaving this world yet. Because of her independent nature, the last 4 months of her life I know were the most difficult. I could sense that she knew she probably wasn't going to be the same and it hurt me more than anything to see and to know that. She kept fighting though... On April 7 at exactly 4:47 pm she lost the fight... I was there with her and held her hand to the end. I never knew how sad I could feel but I also knew that she went to a great place and Reynolds was waiting for. She probably has a bunch of those square dancing skirts and is now dancing around in heaven... I love you, Grammy. You are missed more than anything...