It is with sorrow and gratitude that we mark the passing of Jim Flash "Flash" Hays of Carthage, TN — sorrow at the loss, gratitude for the life.
A life remembered begins, simply, with the telling.
Jim held deeply to the Baptist faith — and was, by all accounts, loved by those who knew him best.
The traditions Jim loved will continue to hold those he loved.
Mr. Jim, better known as "Flash", Hays age 72 of the Funns Branch Community and longtime Nashville resident, departed this life at 2:24 a.m. Sunday morning May 3, 2026 at the Smith County Health and Rehabilitation Center in Carthage where he was admitted February 12, 2026.
The 1 p.m. graveside funeral services will be conducted by his pastor, Bro. Frank Bratcher on Thursday May 7th at the Defeated Creek Memorial Gardens. Interment will follow in the Gazebo Garden.
Mr. Hays is at the Carthage Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home and their will be no public visitation, however the Hays family will receive friends at the graveside follow the 1 p.m. services.
He was one of three sons born to the late James Noel Hays who died at the age of 74 on August 28, 2002 and Patsy Jeanette Rowes Hays who died at the age of 82 on January 3, 2011, and was born James Louis Hays in Mount Juliet on December 23, 2003.
Two brothers preceded him in death, Noel Clifton Hays who died December 21, 2002 at the age of 47 and Jack Harmon Hays who died October 20, 1988.
Mr. Hays was a 1971 graduate of Mount Juliet Hish School and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Belmont College in Nashville.
Mr. Hays attended the Carthage First Freewill Baptist Church in the Tanglewood Community with his family.
He retired in 2014 from the Tennessee Department of Transportation where he was employed in the mapping division. He had been employed with T. D. O. T. for thirty-five years.
Survivors include his son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Candy Hays of the Kempville Community and their two sons, Hunter Hays and Greg Hays of the home.
