Betty Mariner Hays, a first-grade teacher for more than 40 years and the former mayor of Eagles Mere, PA, died on Aug. 15, 2021, at her home in Millersville, MD. She was 91.
As a young woman, Betty was an aspiring actress. She performed in numerous plays and musicals throughout her teens and twenties. Her love of the performing arts continued throughout her life. After graduating from Towson State Teachers College near Baltimore, Betty worked in private schools in Maryland, North Carolina and New York City. She taught first grade at Rodeph Sholom school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, served as director of the Church of the Ascension preschool in Greenwich Village and finished her career in education with a 20-year stint at Grace Church School, also in Greenwich Village, retiring in 1995.
She and her husband, Lee, moved full-time to their country home in Eagles Mere, PA, during a blizzard in December 1995, and both became active in the community. Lee served as an Emergency Medical Technician, and in 2005, Betty ran for mayor. She was elected that November and re-elected in 2009 before retiring again after her second term.
As mayor, Betty enjoyed performing weddings at scenic locations throughout the village and was honored to preside at Memorial Day and Veterans Day celebrations because of her siblings' service in World War II and her nephew Rick's service during the Vietnam era. During Independence Day parades, she rode near the front of the procession in an open convertible and threw candy to children along the route, while Lee rode in an Eagles Mere fire truck or ambulance.
Betty also served on the committee overseeing St.-John-in-the-Wilderness Episcopal Church in Eagles Mere for many years.
She loved reading, watching old movies and plays and singing show tunes. She sang regularly for and with her new community of friends when she moved in assisted living, much to the joy of all who knew her there.
Born in Baltimore on Dec. 20, 1929, she was the fourth of six Mariner children and was the last living member of her generation. She was predeceased by her sister Dorothy, brother Robert, brother Elmer, brother James and sister Judy. Robert Mariner served as an engineer in the U.S. Army during the D-Day invasion and was killed in combat in France. Elmer Mariner, a Marine, was wounded in the South Pacific and awarded the Purple Heart.

On May 28, 1963, Betty married Lee Hays, a television news producer, novelist and acting teacher in New York. Their son, Nick, of Waltham, MA, was born in January 1965 and daughter Sarah Reilly, of Annapolis, MD, in April 1967. Both children survive her, as do her daughter-in-law, Anna; son-in-law, Kevin Reilly; and three grandchildren, Eoin, Esther and Mariner Reilly. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and nephews.
Betty moved to the Assisted Living Well community in Millersville following Lee's death in July 2019, and she remained in close contact with her family, reading books sent by Nick and Anna and receiving window visits from Sarah, Kevin, Eoin, Esther and Mariner during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Burial will be private; memorial arrangements will be announced when completed.