Ms. Rita Yvonne Hayes, age 67, of Ranger, Georgia, departed this life Thursday, April 20, 2023, at her residence surrounded by her loving family. She was born June 18, 1955, in Cleveland, Tennessee, a daughter of the late Charles and Hazel Fouts Hayes. She was also preceded in death by her brother, Johnny Pike.

She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Tabitha Robin and John Pike, Rebecca and Jeremy Lott, Heather and Thomas Payne all of Calhoun, GA; brother and sister-in-law, Ted and Judy Hayes of Turtletown, TN; sisters and brother-in-law, Bobby Hayes of Ranger, GA, Anita and Jerry Shoemaker of Dalton, GA; grandchildren, Amber and Alex Leonard, Jeremiah Rountree, Robert Rountree, Brittany Long, Dakota Henson, Devon Henson and Alexis Thibodeau, Brooklin Henson, Easton Lott, Kamaya Gray, Ja'Sarah Gray, Ma'Jer Gray; great grandchildren, Isis, Lane, Aydric, Annalise, Elizabeth; several nieces and nephews.

Service to celebrate the life of Ms. Rita Yvonne Hayes will be held Monday April 24, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. from the Ponders Melrose Chapel with Reverend Tim Pike officiating. Interment will follow in the Ponders Colonial Hills Memorial Park Cemetery and Mausoleum with Alex Leonard, Jeremiah Rountree, Robert Rountree, Devon Henson, Thomas Payne, Jeremy Lott and Dakota Henson honored to serve as pallbearers. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Arrangements by Ponders Melrose Chapel, 138 Melrose Drive, Dalton, Georgia, 30721, 706.226.4002 www.selectedindependentfuneralhomes.org and www.ogr.org