Lola Mae Matthews
Eat healthy. Don’t drink. Don’t smoke, and stay as active as you can for as long as you can. The only way to stay ahead of your time is to outrun it as long as possible.
Lola Mae Matthews was born November 16, 1907, in Atkins to William James and Sarah Mae “Sally” Boyd Matthews. Lola had three sisters: Gladys (who died when she was seven years old), Catheryn Eudora (named after her grandmother Eudora Frances Read Boyd), and Evelyn Loraine.
Lola and her sisters attended school in Atkins with Lola graduating from Atkins High School in 1928. Lola decided she wanted to be a nurse. She wanted to be able to help people. She told her parents, but her “poppa” was not happy about it as he did not believe a nursing profession was the correct course for a proper young lady. After much coaxing from Lola, he finally agreed. Lola's poppa had bought a 1927 Ford Model T, and she was given the car when she went to nursing school. She named that car “True Love,” because “True love never runs smooth.”
She moved to Fort Smith and attended St. Edwards Nursing School where
she graduated in 1931. After graduation, she performed some private-duty
nursing in Fort Smith until about
1933 when she and Roy Hays eloped and
were married June 23, 1933, in Conway. They bought some furniture, but kept
the marriage secret for a few months. Soon, they moved back to Atkins and
later built their first home with Roy doing the carpentry work.
The three Matthews sisters stayed very close. They even became expectant
mothers together with Evelyn giving birth to her first child in May, Catheryn
in June, and Lola in July.
Lola and Roy named their first son William David “Dave” after their fathers.
A year or so after Dave’s birth, the family moved to Hot Springs where Roy
was employed by the federal government as a mechanic for the Civilian Conservation
Corps. While living in Hot Springs their second son, Phillip Roy (named
for an ancestor Phillip Washington Hays and his father), was born. About
1945, the family moved to Fort Smith where Roy worked at Fort Chaffee as
a foreman in an equipment shop. The family later moved back to Hot Springs
where Roy became employed at Meredith Motors as an auto mechanic where he
worked until his retirement. 
Staying home a few years after the birth of her children, Lola wanted to get back to nursing. She worked for the Methodist Hospital in Hot Springs from 1949-1950, the Army and Navy Hospital from 1950-1956 and then began working at St. Joseph’s Hospital March 1956. Lola was the supervisor of the coronary care unit at St. Joseph when it opened. It was said in the Hot Springs newspaper, Sentinel-Record, that it was the first coronary care unit (Lola called it the intensive-care unit) in Arkansas.
The family attended church at Second Baptist Church of Hot Springs, and the two boys graduated from Hot Springs High School.
Lola retired from St. Joseph’s Hospital in April 1971. The couple did some traveling as their son Dave and his family lived in Indiana, and their son Phillip lived in Oregon. Lola’s sister, Catheryn, was caring for their mother in Atkins. Lola went to Atkins to help Catheryn care for Mrs. Matthews. Roy and Lola bought a house in Atkins in 1975 a few doors down from Catheryn. Sarah “Sally” Matthews passed away in 1976.
The other sisters had both already lost their husbands; therefore, Roy
became the designated “man in charge” for the trips that the four made.
He also helped in repairs that Catheryn may have needed since the two sisters
lived so close.
Roy passed away November 2000 which left both Lola and Catheryn alone in Atkins as their children lived in different towns in Arkansas and Oregon. In 2001, Dave encouraged his mother to move back to Hot Springs, and she moved across the street from Dave and Patti, his wife. She and Catheryn missed each other so very much, but the boys arranged sleepovers for the two sisters.
November 2001, Dave and Patti invited Lola to accompany them on a Caribbean
cruise to celebrate her 94th birthday. Lola had a wonderful time and especially
enjoyed lying by the pool (in slacks and a nice sweater as she did not want
people to see her varicose veins) and watched and listened to the families
in the pool area. She enjoyed the shows on the ship and especially enjoyed
dinner time. The tablemates were two French-Canadian gentlemen and their
father. Only one of the sons spoke English, but they were lovely people.
On her birthday, they sent flowers and candy to her stateroom and celebrated
the evening with her. After the end of the evening, Lola told Patti, “I
cannot wait to tell Catheryn about having dinner with a Frenchman.”
Lola enjoyed the house she was renting in Hot Springs and got to know some of the neighbors. She especially enjoyed talking over the fence with her friend, Sarah, who also had a great love for gardening. They exchanged gardening tips and both learned from the other.
About July 2009, Lola became ill and entered the hospital with a bout of congestive heart failure. She was almost 102, and it was the first time she had spent the night in the hospital since she was about 59. Her health had been remarkably good with an extremely keen mind. She had learned how to use a computer at age 95 and learned the presidents and and relearned the chapters of the Bible in order at 102 and then began working on the learning the vice presidents.
After the hospital stay, it was suggested she go to rehabilitation, and
her son (extremely reluctantly) placed her in a local rehabilitation center.
Lola was very weak but worked extremely hard to return back to her usual
self. She did regain the ability to walk with a walker but could only walk
a few steps after that without assistance. She moved to an assisted living
facility in Hot Springs, West Shores, and began a new chapter of her life.
She was the oldest resident in the facility. West Shores threw a huge birthday
party for her 103rd inviting Hot Springs Mayor Mike Bush and Tiffany Butler
from Gov. Mike Beebe’s office. Ms. Butler presented her with a signed letter
from the governor, and Mayor Bush presented her with a proclamation
declaring
November 16, 2010, as “Lola Hays Days” in Hot Springs, Arkansas. They asked
her for tips on making it past 100, and she said, “Eat healthy. Don’t drink.
Don’t smoke, and stay as active as you can for as long as you can. The only
way to stay ahead of your time is to outrun it as long as possible.”
She made friends with other residents and became life-long friends with some of the staff. At least two of the staff of West Shores visited her for the rest of her life even after she moved to Garrett Manor, another assisted living facility, in 2013. By the time Lola moved to Garrett Manor, she was beginning to lose some of her vigor but still interested in the lives of others especially the nursing staff.
Lola fell July 27, 2014. She did not complain of pain except to say she thought her arthritis was acting up, and it was not known until August 3 that she had broken her hip. Surgery was performed on August 6 and was released from the hospital August 8 for rehabilitation. Sadly, the surgery was too hard for her, and she passed away in her sleep August 23, 2014. A very devout Christian, Lola was ready to “go home.” She was buried August 26 in Oakland Cemetery next to Roy.