Cora Belle Hays

Cora Belle was born on April 8, 1940 in Farwell, Michigan, one of 6 children born to Hugh Edward and Alice Irene (Rodabaugh) Craford.  She was raised and educated in Farwell, Claire and Avoca, Michigan.  She lived in various places including Dallas, Oregon where she worked in the Headstart school.  After moving to Elgin in the early 1970's she began working for the lumber mill and after many years she retired from Boise Cascade as a chipper operator.

She was married to Charles R. Hays in La Grande on May 13, 1975.

Corky, as she was known, enjoyed her life farming with her husband on their place north of Elgin.  She enjoyed working with horses and cattle, but she especially enjoyed her chickens.

Relatives who remain are her husband of nearly 51 years, Charles Hays of Elgin; children Hugh Ingersoll of Michigan, Elizabeth Tenniswood and Kay Ann Atwood, both of Athens, Alabama; seven grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren. sisters, Norma Neal and Alice "Laynie" Powell, both of Salem.

Besides her parents she was preceded in death by her sons Jimmy and Daniel Ingersol, who died in a fire in 1966, and her brothers Gary Harold, Curtis Lavern and Edward Dean Craford.

Cora Belle "Corky" Hays passed away Thursday, January 29, 2026 at her beloved home near Elgin.