John Cameron Hay
Join us in celebrating John—please share your stories and photos, and help spread the word about this page!
John Cameron Hay, age 82, of Knoxville, TN, formerly of Chattanooga, TN, Jensen Beach, FL, and Andover, NJ, went to be with our Lord on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. John was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who will be dearly missed. He was a long-time member of Andover Presbyterian Church in New Jersey, and attended St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN with his family as long as he was able.
With a bachelor's degree in Physics and a Master's in Education, John taught high-school math for two years before joining Michigan Bell as a lineman. He quickly moved into forecasting for new infrastructure using these new things called "computers" to solve business problems. This work eventually took him and his family to AT&T in New Jersey, where he spent many years in Business Research and then finished his career as a senior accountant, applying new computer programs to the task of collecting numbers from across AT&T and closing the books each month.
John was the all-American father. He turned down promotions at AT&T, because he knew they would take him away from his family. He attended all the sporting and social events for his children; many weekends were spent camping and boating on the lake. He made new things and fixed old things, and he taught his kids to do the same. Annual family vacations to Disney World made lasting memories. And John was never without his camera, skillfully documenting the joy of everyday life in photographs.
Upon retirement, John and his beloved wife Barbara divided their time between Chattanooga, Tennessee, where they could be near family, and their Florida community, Holiday Out. They recruited old friends to Holiday Out and made many new ones there. Many evenings were spent at the beach-front recreation hall dancing, playing card games, and watching movies. Whether in Chattanooga or Florida, John and Barb loved gospel and bluegrass shows, both for the music and for the many friends they encountered.
John's children are profoundly grateful for the friendship and care John received over the final years of his life from two devoted assistants: Bruce Murphy and Antoinette Wilkerson. They never failed to engage him with friendly banter while they saw to his daily needs.
John was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 53 years, Barbara Mae Goss, and his parents Ormande and Alice (Webster) Hay. John is survived by his brother, William Hay; son and daughter-in-law, Jack and Jennifer Hay of Knoxville, TN, and grandchildren Elizabeth, Clara, Skyler, Zachary, June and Mary; daughter and son-in-law, Allison and Scott Herskovitz of Crossville, TN, and grandson Michael Herskovitz; and long-time friend, John Peterson.
Family will receive friends Wednesday February 3, from 10:30-11am at St. John Neumann Catholic Church followed by a Funeral Mass and then burial at Pleasant Forest Cemetery.