Sharon Dalton Hays

“

She was warm, curious, cheerful, genuinely interested in people, and had a terrific sense of humor.

Sharon Kathleen Joan Mary Dalton Hays passed away peacefully and unexpectedly on September 7, 2026. She had been in memory care since February, visited daily by her husband and family, and recently had been feted at a belated friends and family celebration of her 85th birthday.

Sharon was the wife and partner in love and life of John Hays, mother of Meghan (David Crampton) Hays and Samantha (Jimmy) Gushner, as well as foster mother to Maureen (Chris) Harriman, Brian Kasianowicz, and Robert “Mack” (JoEllen Reed) MacAleer. She was Nana to Hazel (Noah Rayman) and Henry Crampton-Hays, and Clara and Theo Gushner; new Great-Nana to Matilda Rayman; and sister-in-law to Tom (Sue) Hays. She also leaves behind her beloved younger brother Joseph "Joe" (Donna Burnell) Dalton and his family, including daughters Emma and Jillian and their spouses and children. Her younger sister Susie predeceased her in 2013.

Sharon was born on July 7, 1941 in Kearny, New Jersey and as her birthday was on 7-7, she always felt an affinity for the number 7. When she was in primary school she moved with her family from Queens, New York to Cedar Rapids, Iowa where her father had been hired as a radio engineer at Collins Radio Company. She was puzzled when she didn't see any bunnies as they got off the train in Cedar Rapids, as she thought she was moving to ‘See The Rabbits.’

After attending Washington High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Class of 1963), she joined the Peace Corps, then moved to Boston where she and her new husband John helped to found DARE, Dynamic Action Residence Enterprise, a nonprofit dedicated to providing teenagers otherwise relegated to institutional foster care and juvenile detention with loving and stable home settings and surrogate parents.

“

She cared deeply about others and spent her life engaged with the causes and ideals she believed in.

Sharon and John first served as house parents at Hillside House in the Roxbury Crossing neighborhood of Boston, then in 1971 moved to Kezar Falls, Maine where they established Merrymeeting Farm, a rural setting with the same intent of caring for teens, while also becoming part of the back-to-the-land movement. Together with Sharon’s younger brother Joe and the several teenagers who joined them at the farm including Brian, Mack, and Maureen, Sharon and John managed a working farm consisting of cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, a peacock, hayfields, pine forests, sugar maples, fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Meanwhile Sharon pursued a master's in special education for emotionally troubled youth at the Judge Baker Center in Boston and later, a law degree at the University of Maine.

In 1977, John’s parents invited Sharon and John to take over the family business, a retail boutique called The Phoenix, which since 1955 had been selling Mexican clothing, jewelry, art and handicrafts in Washington, DC. Thinking they would try it for a year, Sharon and John packed up their daughters, a golden retriever, and a chicken, and moved from the farm to the big city. When John’s father unexpectedly died soon after, they decided to remain in DC and run the store. Sharon’s brother Joe stayed on to run Merrymeeting Farm.

When DARE downsized and closed its other out-of-state group homes, Sharon converted Merrymeeting Farm into its own nonprofit, established a board of trustees filled with community friends and neighbors, wrote grants, raised funds, and hired staff. She traveled from Washington DC to Maine many times, driving an old station wagon up and down the East Coast. The farm continued to provide a loving permanent home environment for teens in state care for many years.

As if she wasn’t busy enough, Sharon also simultaneously opened a branch of The Phoenix in Portland, Maine. She discovered a worn down gem of an old building on Fore Street whose asbestos billboard hid a gorgeous Victorian-era arched window. Sharon renovated the building and restored the window – and while the Portland Phoenix no longer occupies the space, the window is still frequently photographed as an example of downtown Portland historic architecture.

“

She was always committed to making the world a better place.

Sharon and John continued to run The Phoenix for years, traveling to Mexico on buying trips and building relationships with talented artisans and their families throughout Mexico. Over the years their daughter Samantha took over more of the store’s operations, and when Sharon and John retired, they handed over the reins completely to Samantha, the third generation.

Sharon and John loved to travel. When their daughters were younger, they brought the family on bicycling, horse caravan, and canal boat adventures in Ireland, France, and England. They would often take a sailboat out for a week or two exploring such places as Greece, the Caribbean, and the Chesapeake Bay. Later they joined friends and family on excursions to Alaska, India, and Egypt. Sharon and John took their business acumen abroad, volunteering for the International Executive Service Corps, which sent them on assignment to Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, Zambia, Jordan, Georgia, and Thailand. They also loved spending time every year on Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

She was always committed to making the world a better place. As recent college graduates Sharon and John participated in the 1963 March on Washington, and their subsequent work often reflected their political activism. Sharon volunteered to open First Lady Hillary Clinton's mail during the Clinton Administration, and in so doing deeply connected with the other women volunteers as well as with one of Hillary's correspondents, a woman in Louisiana with whom, despite never meeting in person, Sharon exchanged phone calls, letters and photos for years afterwards.

Always the community organizer, Sharon helped to found Palisades Village, one of the earliest ‘Village’ projects now found all around the country that allow people to age in place in their homes by coordinating volunteers who pay visits and run errands for their older neighbors. Sharon served on the Palisades Village board for many years, and was active in their fundraising efforts. As dementia took hold in her last decade, she and John became frequent recipients of the same Village visits and care that she had made possible.

“

She was the heart of her family. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend.

Sharon had a sunny personality and an extraordinary ability to make friends wherever she went. She was warm, curious, cheerful, genuinely interested in people, and had a terrific sense of humor. She cared deeply about others and spent her life engaged with the causes and ideals she believed in.

But most of all, she was the heart of her family. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend.

Sharon lived with dementia for the last decade of her life. In many ways, she left us long before we lost her physically. But we are grateful for the many years when she was fully herself, and for the imprint she left on our family and on so many people whose lives she touched.

Please join our family as we come together for a Celebration of Life which will be held from 2-4pm on Saturday, November 21, 2026 at the Palisades Village Hub, 5200 Cathedral Avenue, Washington DC 20016. We will gather with the people who knew and loved her to share stories, memories, and laughter as we celebrate her life and the many ways she touched ours. Please let us know if you’ll be able to join us, so we know how many to expect.

Please consider making a donation in memory of Sharon Hays to Palisades Village. Designate the gift for the General Fund, select 'More' and 'In Memory Of,' and enter her name.