Henry Thomas Hayden

   DURHAM – Lieutenant Colonel Henry Thomas Hayden (Tom), USMC (Ret), recently of St. Marys, GA, passed away on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at his residence in Durham, NC.

   LtCol Hayden was born 14 July 1941, in Louisville, KY. He is survived by his wife Sheila, their daughter Alessandra Dinin and son-in-law Aaron Dinin, and granddaughters Adeline and Imogen. His brothers and sisters live in California and Nevada. He was the oldest of eight and survived by his brother Daniel, and sisters Victoria and Donna.

   LtCol Hayden served three years as a Foreign Service Officer with the Agency for International Development, 22 years in the Marine Corps, and had four combat tours: Vietnam, El Salvador, Columbia, and the Gulf War. He then worked in the defense industry for 10 years. After retiring from the Marine Corps in 1996, he first worked for Hughes Aircraft Company as a test director for ground combat systems. He later had an assignment for two years working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as the president of a joint venture – First Communications Co. Before he fully retired, he last worked in the Pentagon as a contractor in Joint Concept Development for the Joint Staff.

   Hayden had a BA in Political Science from California State University at Long Beach State, MBA from Pepperdine University, and an MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California.

He was elected to his high school, St. Joseph Prep, Bardstown, KY, Hall of Fame.

Hayden was known for his volunteer work in St. Marys with the US Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary, where he offered his boat as a US Coast Guard Operational Facility and conducted Safety Patrols in the Nassau County and Camden County waters. He taught boating safety classes, conducted Aids to Navigation inspections, conducted vessel safety checks, and was elected the Division Commander, Division-14, which has seven Flotillas for a patrol area from Kings Bay to St Augustine and Palatka.

   LtCol Hayden was a member of the Marine Corps Association (MCA), Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO), and The American Legion. Additionally, he was a member of the St. Marys Police Department Auxiliary.

   LtCol Hayden was the author of three books and was a guest columnist from time to time for the GA/FL TIME-UNION. He was active in the St. Marys Film Museum and the Coastal Georgia Film Alliance.

He attended the Catholic Church at the Kings Bay Navy Base and St. Marys’ Star of the Sea, and then more recently St. Francis of Assisi, Raleigh.

   Graveside services will be held 1:00 PM on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at Arlington National Cemetery. A reception will follow the graveside service. Please contact the Hayden family for reception details. 

   The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in LtCol Hayden’s honor to the pediatric electrophysiology research fund at Duke Children’s Hospital established in support of his oldest granddaughter or the Semper Fi and America’s Fund which supports critically wounded, ill, and injured service members, veterans, and military families. Please designate your donation in honor of Tom Hayden.