Robert “Bud” Hay died at Renown Medical Center after a short illness on June 7, 2014. Bud was born September 28, 1922, in Manzanar, CA.

He lived his early childhood years on the ranch with his parents Phyllis (Rosenberg) and George Hay. In 1925 they moved to Smith Valley Nevada where his parents had a small dairy & ranched with his grandparents Tom (Thomas) & Laura Hay. A few years later (1929) they sold and bought a place at Weeks near old Fort Churchill on the Carson River where they continued raising beef cattle and ranching in partnership with his grandparents. Not only did he continue to help on the ranch he & and his older brother Tom at ages 12 & 13 were driving truck to haul cattle to market in San Francisco, CA.

            The family purchased the Quinn River Ranch (1935) north of Winnemucca. Tom & Laura moved there to manage the ranch and Bud spent part of his summers there, but continued to live at Weeks where he attended school. When he reached high school age, the brothers started the same year as freshmen and drove themselves 35 miles each way (70 miles round trip) to school. In these early years driving, repairing/rebuilding car engines and keeping the farm machinery running became of great interest and led to lifelong skills. In (1939) the family moved to Lovelock where Bud spent his senior year and graduated from Pershing County High School in 1941. After graduation he spent most of his time at Quinn River, but continued to be involved in the Lovelock operation. When the Quinn River ranch sold the ranching operation moved to Winnemucca (1946) where Bud continued to take a major role in managing the ranch with his grandparents. He was also involved in helping with the Lovelock operation where his parents lived. Subsequently Bud struck out on his own and purchased part of the Winnemucca family ranch that included the Old Bob Robinson Ranch in 1949. Here he continued ranching as the sole owner until his passing.

Bud enjoyed flying and earned his private pilot license for small planes before graduating from high school. He was active in the development of the small Lovelock airport.  Although he only lived on the Lovelock ranch for a short time, he always considered it home and maintained life-long friendships in the community. Over the years, Bud’s interest and skill in mechanical work led to a passion in creating solutions to equipment problems, and redesigning tools/equipment for specific uses.  He always had time to help friends and often helped a stranded motorist with mechanical problems.

Bud passed his love of horses and livestock on to his daughters and supported their efforts in 4-H and high school rodeo activities. He attended most of their exhibition and competitive events as well as being a parent coach as they learned and became more involved in these activities.

Bud was an active member of the Humboldt County Farm Bureau and belonged to the Nevada State Cattle Association.

Bud was preceded in death by his older brother Tom Hay. He is survived by a sister, Mary Lee (Hay) Wood of Parma, ID, daughters Janet Hay and Tama Gortari, grand children Jason and Jenna Gortarti, niece Gigi (Hay) Chisel, nephew Tim Hay, great nephew James Chisel (all from Reno), niece Shirley Hay of Tucson, AZ and other nephews and cousins.