Fred Haynes - Later Years

Later Years

Twice divorced, Haynes left Baton Rouge in the mid-1990s and returned to his hometown of Minden to help with the care of his father, whose health began to decline. Having a degree in education, he also coached for a time in Webster Parish public schools. On the death of former Sheriff Haynes, Fred Haynes took care of his mother until his own health went into steep decline. After months of medical tests, hospitalizations, and nursing home care, Haynes died in Minden Medical Center of long-term esophageal and renal problems. Haynes lacked health insurance and was unable to qualify for Social Security disability coverage. Friends established a health fund in his name at the Minden Building and Loan Association.

The late Juanita Agan, a Haynes family friend and a columnist for the Minden Press-Herald, wrote in October 2006 that Haynes was probably the most successful all-round athlete to come from Minden, although the city also produced a star of the former Houston Oilers, Charles T. "Charlie" Hennigan (born 1935). And David Lee, who grew up less than a mile from Haynes, played for the former Baltimore Colts from 1966–1978 and won the National Football League punting title on multiple occasions.

In addition to his mother, Haynes was survived by two daughters from his first marriage to Jeanette Marie "Jan" Headstream (born 1950) of Minden, Elizabeth "Beth" Haynes of Baton Rouge and Nicole Haynes Lundy (born 1974) and her husband Scott E. Lundy of Dayton, Ohio; a daughter, Darby Lynn Haynes (born 1981), from his second marriage to the Baton Rouge native, Mary Ann Spencer (born 1954); a two-week old grandson, Garrett Scott Lundy; three brothers, Oscar Henry Haynes, III (born 1943), and his wife Deborah B. Haynes (born 1945), Jerry Wayne Haynes (born 1951) and his wife Angela Joan Brumfield Haynes (born 1952), and Gary Walker Haynes and his wife Sarah Modisette Haynes (both born 1961), all of Minden; six nephews, three nieces, four great-nephews, and four great-nieces.

Services were held at the First Baptist Church in Minden on November 8, with the Reverends Wayne L. DuBose, Bill Crider, and Bill Ichter officiating. Burial was in Minden Cemetery in the Haynes-Walker family plot in the north section of the cemetery. Pallbearers were former Minden teammates or classmates Mike Brewer, Ronnie Brown, Dennis McClure, Stan Belton, Carl Shaw, Bobby Ashley, Dr. Richard Campbell, Lane Davidson, and Bobby Walker. Honorary pallbearers included his former Minden High School coach, Steve Jordan of Shreveport, Tom Alley, D.V.M., of Minden, and former coaches and teammates from Minden High School, LSU, and Lakeside High School in south Webster Parish, where Haynes did some coaching in his later years.

The following anonymous poem was printed in a Baton Rouge newspaper at the height of Haynes' success as an LSU player:

He’s only 5’9” or 10
Statistics tell us all;
But Mr. Freddie plays to win
Like he is ten feet tall.
No man is ever measured by
The feet or inches part;
But by the spirit that the “guy”
Has in his fighting heart—
And if he isn’t tall enough
To touch the Moon, afar;
He may become, when things get rough,
A most outstanding star