Service Today for Longtime City Official : Obituary: John D. Hays for 21 years was a Buena Park traffic and planning commissioner. He died last week of cancer at age 69.

Services will be held today for John D. Hays, a traffic and planning commissioner for 21 years who died Thursday of cancer. He was 69.

Hays served on the city’s then-Traffic Committee from Nov. 16, 1971, to Feb. 6, 1978. He then served on the Planning Commission for 15 years, retiring in April because of illness.

“I found him to be a man of great conviction, a family man and a devoted husband,” said Councilwoman Rhonda J. McCune, who served with Hays on the Planning Commission from 1982 until she was elected to the City Council in 1985.

McCune recalled that as a planning commissioner, she was at first intimidated by Hays “because he knew so much.” But she said he gave her a lot of help and guidance. “In the end, he respected me too,” she said.

“I think he really cared about Buena Park. He really tried to do his part to make it a good place to live,” McCune said.

Hays, a Buena Park resident since 1947, was a building contractor. He served in the Navy during World War II.

A daughter, Dianna Stark of Lake Forest, said her father dedicated his life to his family.

“Everything he did was for his family,” she said.

Stark said her father, who was born and raised in Kremlin, Okla., believed that serving his community was important too.

“He felt that it was his duty to be part of his community and he also felt that he wanted to be the voice of the people--his neighbors and friends,” she said.

Hays was also involved in the Buena Park Host Lions Club from 1953 to 1969, where he recorded 15 years of perfect attendance. He joined the Buena Park Masonic Lodge in 1965, where he was a member for 28 years and also a past master.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Nanjo. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on Nov. 21, 1992.

Hays is also survived by another daughter, Susan Blythe of Placentia; his brother, Darryl, and his mother, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hays, both of Kremlin, Okla.; his sister, Maxine Schuelein of Sand Springs, Okla., and his grandchildren, Jeff and Jana Stark of Lake Forest, and Chad and Casey Blythe of Placentia.

Services will be at 2 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Buena Park at Beach Boulevard and 10th Street. Interment will follow at Loma Vista Memorial Park, 701 E. Bastanchury Road, Fullerton.