Robert Dennis Hayward

April 20, 1944 ~ August 14, 2023

Robert Dennis Hayward was born in Denver Colorado in 1944 and grew up in Richland Washington where he graduated from Columbia High School in 1962. He attended Washington State University receiving degrees in Forest Management and Business Administration and a Masters Degree in Business. He married his college sweetheart Cheryl and they had two children, Jennifer and Jeremy. He served in the US Army during the Vietnam War.

Dennis worked throughout the West in the timber and wood products industry. He became well known in Oregon where, for 15 years as Forester and Executive Vice President of the Northwest Timber Association he represented the small family-owned sawmills during the public debates over the uses of public forest lands. He and Cheryl moved to Vancouver in 1992 where he became the Executive Director of the Western Wood Preservers Institute representing the wood treatment industry in western North American. He spearheaded the growth of the organization to become the premier association in the industry with programs focused on improving the environmental performance of the products and maintaining markets until his retirement in 2007.

Beside his family, his greatest pleasure was the outdoors. He was an avid and skilled fisherman, and, when the fish weren't biting, he played golf and tended a garden. He also had an extensive Indian artifact and antique bottle collection, gathered in his younger years. His annual camping trips with family were a highlight and he and Cheryl greatly enjoyed RVing and their winter home in Arizona after his retirement.

Dennis was deeply loved and respected by his family and friends and his life is an inspiration to many.  He was always doing and learned new things including making a surprise karaoke debut at age 77, writing a biography of his father at age 78, and starting flowers from seed indoors for the first time at age 79.  He was the type of father who always showed up to every game and recital and cheered his kids on even if they were the worst player on the team.  He showed he cared in many ways big and small from planning an annual trip to making an annual calendar to writing poems and helping make Halloween costumes.  He was always there for those that he loved. He is survived by his brother Wes, wife Cheryl, daughter Jennifer and his pride and joy, granddaughter Amber and a grandson Brandon Hayward. In lieu of flowers, money can be sent to American Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.