Levi Haynes

Etowah- Levi Cathey Haynes - age 88, former Champion Paper Mill paper inspector, motel/restaurant owner, and avid outdoorsman, died peacefully on July 25, 2006 in Hendersonville, NC. Mr. Haynes lived a varied and colorful life. Retiring from Champion Mill in Canton, NC in 1959, he moved his family from Clyde, NC to Gardiner, Montana in 1961. There he first operated the Town motel and restaurant until 1967 and then later, he and his wife, Betty Robinson Haynes ran the K bar. They remained in Gardiner until 1976 - they then returned to their native Western North Carolina. Not satisfied with the limits placed upon him by running a restaurant, Mr. Haynes began moonlighting as an outdoor guide, taking hunters and fishermen on various expeditions to augment his desire to fish and hunt. Known as both a highly articulate dry-fly fisherman and marksman, Levi was a much-valued outdoor companion. Levi Cathey Haynes was born on December 31, 1917, in Clyde, North Carolina. He finished high school and began working at Champion at the age of 17. With his first paycheck, Mr. Haynes purchased an Ithaca side by side 16 gauge shotgun. He quickly established himself and rose to be a paper inspector by his retirement in 1959. After a hunting/fishing trip to Montana following his retirement, Levi moved his family from his native home in Clyde, to Gardiner, Montana. Besides running several successful businesses, Levi hiked and fished much of the waters and land in and around Yellowstone National Park. As a hunter, he could claim deer, elk, moose, several bears, and on a trip to Alaska - the Dall sheep. He also was an avid dog lover and birder. But it was dry-fly fishing that was his greatest passion. Both in his native western NC streams as well as the back rivers in Montana, Levi could conjure a trout out of the most difficult of conditions. He is survived by two children, Diana Caldwell of Mills River, NC and Pati Tracy of Rainer, Oregon; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, July 30, 2006 in the Canton Chapel of Wells Funeral Home with Reverend Mikkell Bennett officiating. The family will receive friends from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Four Seasons Hospice - 581 S Allen Rd, Flat Rock, NC 28731

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