Marshall Rufus Hayes

Term of Office, 1945 - 1957

Marshall Rufus Hayes was born on a sandy farm on Pond Creek, four miles west of Milton, Florida, in 1905. At the age of two, his father was thrown from a horse and died leaving a widow and six children behind. In order to help the family’s income, Hayes began working at the age of eleven. He cut and sold wood in order to purchase school clothing. As a young man, he was employed as a salesman for an aluminum cookware company. He quickly rose through the ranks and within one year became vice-president in charge of sales. It was his belief that “anytime two people meet, a sale is made, whether an idea or a product.”

Hayes continued to prosper even during the years of the great depression, investing in land and real estate in Santa Rosa County. He married the former Mary Watson, from North Carolina, and together they raised six children. With the commencement of World War II, the company shifted its production focus rendering Hayes jobless. He returned home to support the war effort, run a farm, work in a shipyard, and to work on the construction of Whiting Field.

In 1944, Hayes ran for sheriff of Santa Rosa County and was elected. He served in this capacity for three consecutive terms. Hayes was known as a friend of the worker and sincerely believed that anyone willing to work conscientiously could be successful. For those sharing this philosophy, he always had a pat on the back, a handshake, or a wave. Hayes left the sheriff’s office in 1956 and entered the petroleum business as a distributor for Texaco Inc.  Coupled with this endeavor, he added a Mary Carter Paint Store, a John Deere Garden Tractor Dealership, and a Safety Inspection Station. Hayes died in 1971.