MISSOULA – He was the glue that bonded his family; a man who could make friends with strangers and a father who loved his little girl.
Friends are remembering 28-year-old Shelley Hays, a victim in last week’s deadly shooting rampage in Missoula, a crime that killed him and wounded three other people including a Montana Highway Patrol trooper.
But even as loved ones try to understand his death, they’re remembering his life as a man who never did anything halfway, a man who worked hard as a mechanic and eventually opened his own auto repair business.
He loved fixing and riding fast motorcycles and trucks. And he loved his 5-year-old daughter Cloey.
Shelley Hays grew up in Missoula and cast a wide net of friends and colleagues who can’t believe he’s gone – leaving behind a lifetime of memories.
It’s been difficult for childhood friend Nick Cogar who knows his friend was special.
“He had this personality where he could make a friend out of anybody. You know, somebody’s giving him that long stare like, ‘Not sure,’ and he’d go over there and just make the situation better,” Cogar recalled. “He’d create a conversation and all of a sudden by the time it was over, another friend — you know what I mean? He was always social like that. It didn’t matter where we went he was always making friends.”
You can click here to help Shelley’s family.
Story by Jill Valley, MTN News
