Roland Lee Hays, 77, of Coloma, passed away Tuesday in Winter Haven, Florida following a lengthy illness.

Funeral services with Military Rites will be held 11 a.m. Monday at Duffield & Pastrick Family Funeral Home in Coloma. Burial will follow at North Shore Memory Gardens. Visitation will be Sunday from 2-4 p.m.

Memorials may be made to the North Berrien Senior Center or the North Berrien Food Pantry.

Those wishing to leave a message or share a memory with the family may do so by selecting the "Sign the Guestbook" link on the left.

Roland was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin on Dec. 7, 1938 and was one of a family of eight children born to William and Virginia Hays. After moving to Michigan, he attended and graduated from Hartford High School. After college he served in the U.S. Army in Germany during the Berlin Crisis where he and his wife Donna lived for a year.

Back home the couple began raising their own family of five children. They raised beef cattle and chickens as well as the corn used for feed. Roland enjoyed hunting elk in Colorado each year and hunting locally for deer and duck. He was an avid vegetable gardener and a member of the NRA. An electrician by trade, Roland worked at Bosch until he retired.

He is survived by his wife Donna; two daughters, Regina (Glenn) Payne of New Troy and Rebecca Hays of Coloma; three sons, Gene (Kandice) Hays and Ivon (Wendy) Hays, both of Coloma and Roland (Paula) Hays II of Auburndale, Florida; a sister Bonnie Craft of Coloma; 10 grandchildren, Nicole (Derek), Ivon II, Glenn Jr., Jared, Zac, Mindy (Kyle), Miranda, Bradly, Alex and Luke; and 3 great grandchildren, Izzy, Damien and Cole.

Roland was preceded in death by his parents; 3 brothers, Ivon, John and Bill; and 3 sisters, Darlene, Glenny and Mary.