Molly Hayden

With her loved ones nearby, Mollie Hayden passed away peacefully on November 19, 2017, at Barton House Memory Care in Nashville, TN. She was 67 years old.

With a naturally gregarious personality and a contagious smile, Mollie was a joy to be around and lit up every room she entered. She dressed to match her personality and loved wearing bright colors, especially pink, regardless of the season. She was a born conversationalist and storyteller with a self-deprecating sense of humor and was always excited to share her comical adventures (and misadventures) with others. She loved making new friends wherever she went, whether at a community gathering or a grocery store checkout line.

She was born Mollie Ann Feast in Paducah, KY on May 8, 1950, to Leslie and Lucille Feast, proprietors of a local construction company. As a young child, she was known for her love of music and pets, and for her endless piano practicing. She took after her father and was an independent and adventurous child, often riding her favorite horse to all corners of Paducah.

She graduated in 1968 from Paducah Tilghman High School where she was elected Miss Tilghman her senior year. She was also a cheerleader and participated in numerous extracurricular activities and musicals at Tilghman.

Mollie became a concert-level pianist and could have pursued a career in music, but loved teaching and was drawn to the education profession. She taught piano lessons from home, at one point teaching over 50 students a week, some of whom went on to successful careers in music. Mollie also spent five years teaching elementary school in Paducah before moving with her family to the Nashville area.

Her family settled in Brentwood, TN in 1984, and Mollie wasted little time getting involved with a new church as well as various community organizations and social clubs. When she wasn't making social introductions or playing matchmaker, Mollie was known for hosting dinner parties and various social gatherings at her family home.

In Paducah, she was married at Arcadia Methodist Church, and later attended First Baptist Church where she was a soprano in the choir. She also attended various Nashville-area churches, including Belmont Church and later Christ Church Pentecostal, where she and her then husband were active supporters of the Christ Church Choir. She later became a member of Brentwood Baptist Church, where she continued to attend Sunday school until her declining health no longer allowed.

Preceding Mollie in death were her parents, Leslie Alan and Lucille Dummeier Feast. She is survived by a sister, Brenda Jackson; son P. Brady Hayden and grandson James Moya-Hayden of Washington, DC; and daughter Heather A. Hayden of Nashville, TN.

She also leaves behind a wide circle of loving family and friends, as well as dozens of students whose lives she touched over the years, both at the piano and in the classroom.

To honor Mollie's life, there will be a service at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21 at Brentwood Baptist Church with a time of visitation from 9:30 a.m. until time of the service. Burial will also be on November 21 at 3:00 p.m., Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Paducah, KY. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association.