The bio of Albert Franklin Hayes and Alma Nelson Jeffery is simple ...

When Raymond Adelbert Byers was born on September 13, 1912, in Spokane, Washington, his biological father, Charles Francis Simmons, was a 32-year-old bachelor farmer from Idaho, and his biological mother, Daisy Evelyn Byers, was 18 ... and unwed. He was adopted at birth by Eva Bessie Hedding and Howard Franklin Hayes and renamed Albert Franklin Hayes. The family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, and later adopted a daughter, Mary, in 1917. Albert graduated in 1930 from Central HS, in 1938 from the University of Minnesota medical school specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and then served in WWII medical corps in the Pacific from 1942-1945. He married Alma Nelson Jeffery on April 22, 1944, in Auckland, New Zealand. He was 31 and she was 24.

Alma was born April 24, 1920, and raised at 23 Taurangi Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland, NZ in a loving family ... her mum, Florence (called Bloss), her dad, William (known as Bill), and her brother, Ivan John (known by “John”). Chosen Miss Auckland in 1936 and a volunteer at the USO ... she was clearly a beautiful lady ... inside and out. She had never left home before boarding a ship to her new home in America.

They lived in St. Paul most of their lives and had two children during their marriage: Jeffery Franklin on April 2, 1947, and Patricia Mary on February 18, 1950. Albert died on March 12, 2001, in Auckland, New Zealand, at the age of 88. Alma died 3 years later, on May 12, 2004.

... But it does not capture the true nature of this amazing couple!

He was a tenacious, smart, creative, gentle man with both wit and wisdom.

Albert’s childhood was not without discord. Both his adopted parents had issues with alcohol. His father, a storekeeper for Great Northern Railroad, was a gentle drunk; his mother was not so nice and would abandon the family periodically for “trips” to California. His summers were periods of joy spent with his Aunt Kate and Uncle Tex. Once Tex went “above and beyond” literally to get Albert a ride on a barnstorming biplane ride! But even those summers had moments of trauma ... a gun target practice that resulted in another child’s eye accidentally shot (Albert never picked up a gun again) ... and rumors later in life that Tex murdered Kate. In spite of this unsettled environment, he successfully graduated from Central High School, worked in a drugstore (when he was rumored to deliver “near beer” or “prescription whiskey” to John Dillinger!), and went on to medical school, thus demonstrating his tenacity and intelligence. These early days also began to show his creativity when he took up jazz piano ... and had received accolades in the society pages about his fraternity party decorations! (abouttownTrib1933 and Mar 15 1937 StarTrib).

It does appear that Albert (or Raymond, as he was named at birth) was his birth parents’ only offspring, but he never knew their names (nor did he want to know). As such, their death (Charles Simmons, on May 25, 1932, in Fairfield, Idaho, at the age of 51, and Daisy Byers, much later on August 8, 1965, in LA, at the age of 71) went unnoticed by Albert. Ironically, upon receiving his medical degree toward the end of the 1930’s, he volunteered his services at a facility for unwed mothers ... and the natural question arises as to his motive. Did he think about the possible nature of his own birth ... a teenage mother unwed needing to give up her child? We will never know for sure.

Albert practiced medicine for only a short time before the start of World War II. He volunteered and entered the medical corps in 1941 and served in the Pacific theater. In his “spare time” he would travel to the local indigenous village to inoculate the residents against yaws, and as a repayment, his life was saved when the village resident heard of a Japanese “assassination plot” of “the needle” (as he was called). This young man ran all night long to warn Albert of the impending danger. Albert also received a medal for doing an appendectomy while on a battleship under fire. In the midst of war, he also found happiness; while on R&R in Auckland, NZ, he met his future bride, Alma Nelson Jeffery.

She was giving and gracious, creative and beautiful, with a selfless nature.

Alma had pretty much given up on the notion of having a lasting relationship. She had already lost 3 boyfriends to the war in Europe, so she decided a life of volunteering was in her future. When she met Albert at the USO, she was impressed by his honesty, revealing that he was “spoken for” being already engaged to a lady in Calgary, CA., but upon returning to his post, Albert received a “Dear John” letter calling off the engagement. This presented a bit of a dilemma since he had no way of contacting the beautiful woman he had just met, so at the next R&R in 1944, he started his quest at the bottom of the stairs leading to her place of work. Just a few months later, they were married. But even that was not without its quandary ... Alma, a teetotaler, could smell alcohol while standing at the altar. When the minister asked if she was willing to “take this man”, she said nothing, so Albert said, “We do!” ... and apparently that was good enough for the minister ... and for the rest of their lives together! (Although they restated their vows on their 50th ... just to make sure the “children” were legit and not “bastards”!)

Albert was evacuated from the Pacific front to the US unexpectedly with hepatitis, worrying Alma who was unaware of the diagnosis and receiving no mail for a lengthy period of time. Eventually she received the news and permission to emigrate to the US.  Upon her arrival in San Francisco, Albert met the ship and “wined and dined” her at the Top of the Mark Hopkins ... where she had her first alcoholic drink ... a pink squirrel.

The three decades following the war were happy and successful ones for the family. Albert had a thriving OB-Gyn medical practice, partnering with James Swendsen and Rodney Sturley, and eventually located in the Central Medical Building (which Albert served as one of its founding members). He also actively served on numerous forums (Cancer Forum Mar1956Albert Hayes StarTrib news articles Cancer forum which Al Hayes participated) and fundraisers (gala Screen Shot 2020-06-27 at 9.28.05 AM attend Children's Hospital fundraising gala Nov 5 1961).

They lived in St. Paul for a few years at 88 No. Cleveland with Albert’s dad, Howard, when Jeffrey was born in 1947, and then purchased their family home at 1960 Goodrich Avenue where they moved shortly before Patricia was born in 1950.

Alma was a constant contributor to the women’s auxiliary medical association and the Midway Hospital gift shop. Alma’s mother was able to travel several times to see the family ... the first time being when Pat was born.

This period saw the design and construction (again showing Albert’s creative side as mentored by Walter Petersen) of a summer home on Lake Carnelian near Stillwater in 1956 and a sail boat constructed in the living room, as well as much travel to northern Minnesota (Beltrami), the west coast (road trip to Disneyland in 1958) and New Zealand (1960) also occurred during this time. Sadly, it was a period of lost, too; Albert’s adopted father, Howard Franklin, passed away on July 4, 1954, in Dakota, Minnesota, at the age of 75, and his adopted mother Eva Bessie passed away on March 30, 1958, in St Paul, Minnesota, at the age of 75. Maybe it was a good thing he was unaware of his biological mother, Daisy (Evelyn), passing on August 8, 1965, at the age of 70. Alma’s dad passed away March 19, 1962, and her mom on February 28, 1966.

In the late 1960’s a trip to NZ with their good friends, Bill and Kay Randall, brought an unexpected surprise ... the discovery and purchase of a retirement condo near Devonport, the arts/bedroom community on Auckland harbor’s north shore. In the 1970’s Alma started her dream career ... creating miniature rooms and opening her own gift shop, The Wishing Well ... the first shop in St. Paul dedicated to miniature reproductions. Once he retired in mid-1970’s, Albert and Alma connected with friends and family, pursuing their hobbies (music for Albert and miniatures for Alma) in constant summertime (January through April in NZ and the remainder of the year in their now winterized summer cabin in Stillwater). In 1981, they completed the construction of a different retirement home in Stillwater, designed by their son and “inaugurated” at the time of their daughter’ wedding.

The 1980’s saw the death of Albert’s adopted sister, Mary E., who died in 1982 in Phoenix, Arizona, when Albert Franklin was 70 years old. Alma’s brother passed away in Auckland in 1985. But the decade also brought three grandsons ... Hayes William Kaufman and Will Halligan Hayes in 1987, and Grant Howard Kaufman in 1990. These were the “fun years” for travel and entertaining.

Health issues began to develop for both Albert and Alma toward the end of the 1990s. Albert Franklin Hayes died on March 12, 2001, in Auckland, New Zealand, when he was 88 years old of an aortic aneurism. His ashes were distributed in the Auckland harbor in view from their beautiful condo. Alma died of heart failure in her home at Lake Carnelian in Stillwater the morning of May 12, 2004.