John T. Hay; Headed State Chamber of Commerce

John T. Hay, 79, former president of the California Chamber of Commerce. As head of the Sacramento-based chamber from 1967 to 1986, Hay was prominent in state political and business circles. A native of Lincoln, Neb., who moved to Sacramento 30 years ago, he took a passionate interest in the revitalization of the state Capitol, which had been declared a seismic hazard in 1972. He headed the Capitol Restoration Gala, a nonprofit and tax-exempt corporation formed to host a series of public events to celebrate the building’s $68-million face lift, completed in 1982. Hay pleaded with private firms to underwrite the gala, which included a laser show, a $250-a-plate dinner in the Capitol rotunda and a $2,500, five-foot cake in the shape of the circa-1860s building. Hay’s hobby for many years was collecting Ronald Reagan memorabilia. Arriving in Sacramento the year Reagan was elected governor, he began collecting Reagan campaign buttons. By 1989, when Reagan left the White House, he had more than 1,200 buttons and hundreds of badges, posters and autographs--a collection that filled 300 cubic feet--which he eventually turned over to the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. On July 20 in Reston, Va., after a long battle with prostate cancer.