Michael Joseph Hay, 65, a retired economist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, died June 12, in Alexandria, of complications from multiple sclerosis.
Mr. Hay was born and raised in Minneapolis. He attended Beloit College and the University of Minnesota, and took "periods of leave" to work on a cattle ranch in Montana. He joined the Peace Corps in 1963. He was a volunteer in the Guinea I group (Republic of Guinea). While in Guinea, he was assigned to the agricultural station in Kissidougou and became interested in economic development. When he returned to the States, he enrolled again in the University of Minnesota, completing a bachelor's degree in economics and a Ph.D. in agricultural and applied economics. From 1971-72, he conducted research in Tunisia for a dissertation on rural to urban migration.
He moved to Alexandria in 1974 to work for the E.P.A., then moved to the Fish and Wildlife Service where he worked in the Policy and Planning Division, later the Division of Economics, until he retired in 2004. His work included the California sea otter translocation and the Oregon spotted owl projects. He is survived by his wife, Ann Marie Y. Hay, a fellow Peace Corps volunteer, whom he met and married in Kissidougou; two children, David C. Hay and his wife Currey who live in Orange, Va., and Megan E. Hay, who lives in Williamsburg, Va.; three grandchildren (Sebastian, Lucy
and McKinley) who live in Orange, Va.; a brother John G. Hay of Missoula, Mont.; and two sisters, Alison Edgerton of Backus, Minn., and Mia Hay-Long of Park Rapids, Minn.
A memorial service will be held on June 29 at 3 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 4444 Arlington Blvd. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Capitol Chapter, 2021 K Street, NW, Suite 715, Washington, DC 20006 or to any earth-friendly group of your choice.