Obituary for James Marcus Hayner
James Marcus Hayner, 52, lost his battle with cancer on August 25, 2023 at his home in Norfolk, peacefully and surrounded by love.
Jim was born October 21, 1970 in Dallas, Oregon to Wanda Sue Peikert and Donald Hayner. Six minutes later he was joined in life by his brother and best friend, Brian. Jim was an inquisitive and adventurous child with a great sense of humor. Even as a young boy, he loved his family dearly, and was fiercely protective of his mother. Jim was raised in Southern California and Pennsylvania by his mother and his other father William (Bill) Russell Roseberry, III, who has fond memories of Jim enjoying playing Pop Warner football as a good defensive end.
As a young man of 20 years old, Jim fell in love with and married Rosa (Chary) Irizarry of Puerto Rico. This union was blessed with a son, the now Dr. Marcus Hayner. Jim was intensely proud of his son Marcus who recently graduated with his pharmacist degree from the College of Pharmacy, University of Houston. Marcus resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Maria Cardona as he completes his pharmacy residency.
In 2000, Jim took on the adventure of driving his beat up ‘55 Chevy pickup truck across the country to live near his brother and family in Virginia Beach. He lived in Virginia on and off until finally settling in Norfolk.
Always the adventurer, Jim traveled the world visiting Europe, India and especially enjoying his time in Thailand and Puerto Rico. He spent 2 years working as an IT Officer on Carnival Cruise Lines, which is where he met his beautiful future wife Kanokphorn (Kob) Sarnthong of Thailand. They were married in VA in 2009 and in 2014 they were blessed with a son, Weston, who brought Jim so much happiness. He was very proud of Weston’s accomplishments in school and he found great joy in watching his son work towards obtaining his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Jim shared his love of technology and gaming with Weston, spending many hours passing on his extensive knowledge to his son.
Jim was a self-educated Cloud Infrastructure Engineer who was always looking for the opportunity to be innovative and a leader in his industry. He found that opportunity a few years ago when he took a job with an exciting start-up company called Solo.io after working for Gannett for 10 years. It was a good move on his part, and he achieved a long-time goal of his becoming a Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect. His family and friends will remember Jim as a brilliant man who worked hard to take care of his family, which was the most important calling for him.
Jim was preceded in death by his half-sister Melissa (Missy) Hayner. Left to cherish his memory are his loving and devoted wife, sons, parents, twin brother Brian and wife Dana, niece Madelyn Hayner, nephew Drew Hayner, countless friends, and extended family across the United States and Thailand. Jim’s smile and presence will be missed every day.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Graham Funeral Home & Cremation Services on Sunday, September 3, 2023 at 2 p.m. with Pastor Paul Palumbo officiating. A reception honoring James's memory will be held following the service at the funeral home. As in Thai tradition, the more flowers the better to give Jim a proper send off.
To leave a condolence to the family and to view the service if unable to attend please visit www.grahamfuneralhome.com.
Jim was born October 21, 1970 in Dallas, Oregon to Wanda Sue Peikert and Donald Hayner. Six minutes later he was joined in life by his brother and best friend, Brian. Jim was an inquisitive and adventurous child with a great sense of humor. Even as a young boy, he loved his family dearly, and was fiercely protective of his mother. Jim was raised in Southern California and Pennsylvania by his mother and his other father William (Bill) Russell Roseberry, III, who has fond memories of Jim enjoying playing Pop Warner football as a good defensive end.
As a young man of 20 years old, Jim fell in love with and married Rosa (Chary) Irizarry of Puerto Rico. This union was blessed with a son, the now Dr. Marcus Hayner. Jim was intensely proud of his son Marcus who recently graduated with his pharmacist degree from the College of Pharmacy, University of Houston. Marcus resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Maria Cardona as he completes his pharmacy residency.
In 2000, Jim took on the adventure of driving his beat up ‘55 Chevy pickup truck across the country to live near his brother and family in Virginia Beach. He lived in Virginia on and off until finally settling in Norfolk.
Always the adventurer, Jim traveled the world visiting Europe, India and especially enjoying his time in Thailand and Puerto Rico. He spent 2 years working as an IT Officer on Carnival Cruise Lines, which is where he met his beautiful future wife Kanokphorn (Kob) Sarnthong of Thailand. They were married in VA in 2009 and in 2014 they were blessed with a son, Weston, who brought Jim so much happiness. He was very proud of Weston’s accomplishments in school and he found great joy in watching his son work towards obtaining his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Jim shared his love of technology and gaming with Weston, spending many hours passing on his extensive knowledge to his son.
Jim was a self-educated Cloud Infrastructure Engineer who was always looking for the opportunity to be innovative and a leader in his industry. He found that opportunity a few years ago when he took a job with an exciting start-up company called Solo.io after working for Gannett for 10 years. It was a good move on his part, and he achieved a long-time goal of his becoming a Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect. His family and friends will remember Jim as a brilliant man who worked hard to take care of his family, which was the most important calling for him.
Jim was preceded in death by his half-sister Melissa (Missy) Hayner. Left to cherish his memory are his loving and devoted wife, sons, parents, twin brother Brian and wife Dana, niece Madelyn Hayner, nephew Drew Hayner, countless friends, and extended family across the United States and Thailand. Jim’s smile and presence will be missed every day.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Graham Funeral Home & Cremation Services on Sunday, September 3, 2023 at 2 p.m. with Pastor Paul Palumbo officiating. A reception honoring James's memory will be held following the service at the funeral home. As in Thai tradition, the more flowers the better to give Jim a proper send off.
To leave a condolence to the family and to view the service if unable to attend please visit www.grahamfuneralhome.com.