Obituary of Clara H. Baird

Clara Hayes Baird, age 89, of Perry Street, Boone, died Monday morning, April 20, 2009 at Watauga Medical Center. She was born April 22, 1919 in Watauga County to Leonard Finley and Carrie Emoline Moody Hayes. Mrs. Baird was a member of Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church and was a housewife and homemaker. She is survived by; two sons, W. L. Baird and wife, Myra, of Indian Trail and Kenneth Eugene Baird, of Valdosta, Georgia, two daughters, Sue Baird Jones, and Mary Louise Hess, both of Boone, nine grandchildren, Teresa Hidgon, April, Jonathan and Aaron Baird, Chris Jones, Kim McAulay, Melissa Eller, Timothy Cornett, and Wendy Parsons, seven great-grandchildren, three sisters, Nina Banner of Boone, Josephine Herman of Michigan, and Carolyn Farthing, and husband, Cecil of Boone, three brothers, Dwight Hayes of Vilas, Tom Hayes and wife Grace of Lincolnton, and Dale Hayes and wife Betty, of Boone, and two sisters-in-law, Lois Hayes of Boone and Carrie Baird of Vilas. A number of nieces and nephews also survive. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Lenoir Baird, three brothers, Eugene, Roger and Raymond Hayes, and two sisters-in-law, Dixie Mae Hayes and Juanita Hayes. Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church, officiated by Rev. Wynn Greer and Rev. Carl Wilson. The body will lie in state at the church from 1 until 2 o'clock. Burial will follow in the Baird Cemetery in Valle Crucis. Flowers are appreciated or memorials may be made to the Baird Cemetery Fund or to the Watauga County Project on Aging, 304 West King Street, Boone, NC 28607. Online condolences may be sent to the family at austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com. The family will receive friends Tuesday evening from 6:30 until 8 o'clock at Austin & Barnes. Austin & Barnes Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the Baird family.