Emmy Berger Hayes

Emmy B. Hayes, wrapped in the warm embrace of her loving family, passed away Thursday, August 18, 2022. Emmy was the daughter of the late Josef and late Elisabeth Berger of Obernberg am Inn, Austria. She was predeceased by her husband, Billy B. Hayes, and sons Josef "Joschi" Berger and Ken Hayes. An ethnic German, she was born in Subotica, Yugoslavia (modern-day Serbia) on September 30, 1928. Emmy survived many perils to lead a long, fulfilling life. As a teenager during World War II, her family was forced to flee Yugoslavia when its communist leadership began expelling Germans from the country. Surviving the dangers of the war along the way, her family eventually settled in Obernberg am Inn, Austria. A few short years after the war had ended, a young American soldier on duty in that adopted Austrian homeland approached Emmy and said, “Hey Blondie, you and your friend want to meet me and my friend for a beer when I get off watch?” So began a 62-year-long love story of her life and marriage to that American soldier, Billy B. Hayes. Billy remained in the Army until 1965 and Uncle Sam took them to many places during that time. Hopscotching Army bases from Austria to Germany and across the United States, they raised their children. A drill sergeant, he remained in the Army until he retired and moved the family to his home state of South Carolina. Emmy would often talk about when “we” were in the Army, “I’d get up at 4:00 am to iron his uniform. I would use so much starch, his pants would stand up by themselves!” An extremely proud and patriotic, naturalized American citizen, Emmy was a staunch supporter of the military and veterans, and Fort Jackson was always one of her favorite places on earth. Sometime after moving to Columbia, Emmy began working at the Tapp’s department store in downtown Columbia. When a new Tapp's store was opened in 1970 in the Dutch Square Mall, Mr. Tapp asked her to move to that store and manage its China Department. It was there she worked proudly from the day it opened until the store closed down in the mid-1990s. And then there was her cooking prowess. Emmy was without peers in the kitchen. She was equally adept at whipping up goulashes, soups, or a schnitzel from her European roots or fried pork chops, biscuits, and gravy that would make any Southerner drool. Oh, but that gravy; one would almost be tempted to enjoy it in a cup by itself like coffee! Sweet treats were always aplenty, as well. When asked about the ingredients or recipes of certain dishes, she would often quip in her still lingering German accent, “Oh, a little bit of dis and a little bit of dat”. Future Hayes family gatherings will be sorely lacking a lot of this and that. Emmy is survived by Joschi’s wife, Eva, grandsons, Bernhard, and Markus (Cordula) and great-grandsons, Oskar and Leonhard; daughter, Kathy Seay (Bob Harmon), grandchildren, Andrew Seay (Aimee) and great-grandchildren, Owen and Corley; granddaughter, Stephanie Goodwin (Tony), and granddaughter, McKenzie Seay; Ken’s wife, Cherrie Hayes, grandchildren, Lisa Hayes (Ron Singleton), and Kenny Hayes (Laurel); daughter, Barbara Sheppard (Ron), granddaughter, Tobie Seaberg (Jason), great-grandchildren, Emma and Luke; granddaughter, Tiffany Peake (Justin), great-grandchildren, Peyton and Ames; son, Bob Hayes, grandson, Jason Hayes, great-grandchildren, Summer, Callie, and Preston, grandson, Adam Hayes, and grandson, Lance Hayes; son, John Hayes (Lil) and grandchildren, Jack and Caroline. The funeral service for Emmy Berger Hayes will be held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, August 22, 2022, in Temples Halloran Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Bush River Memorial Gardens Mausoleum. The family will greet friends from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home.