Martha Gates Hays ’67

Martha Gates Hays ’67, of San Francisco; Apr. 23, of esophageal cancer. She worked at Young & Rubicam in New York City, IBM in London, and Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope in San Francisco as a TV commercial producer. She worked tirelessly producing “Save our Ballet” television commercials to assist in helping the San Francisco Ballet which, at the time, was near bankruptcy. She pursued a second career in education and earned a master’s degree from Mills College, subsequently teaching eighth grade English at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco. At the age of 35, within a month of giving birth to her second son, she was stricken with bilateral brain aneurysms that left her both physically and cognitively disabled. She fought back and persevered for the next 40 years with courage, grace, optimism, and warmth. No longer able to work or teach, she put her all into raising her two sons. She also pursued her passion for painting, creating many works and collaborating for years with San Francisco-based artist Kim Frohsin. She is survived by her husband, Christopher ’64; two sons; sister Caroline Gates Anderson ’71; brothers-in-law Brian Hays ’61 and Richard L. Anderson ’66; and niece Nicole Anderson ’05.