Honoring Jim Hayes: A Legacy that Still Shapes ThriveMore
Long before ThriveMore became a familiar name across North Carolina, its foundation was built on faith, conviction, and an unwavering sense of responsibility to older adults. At the center of that beginning was James M. Hayes Sr., the first leader of what was then known as Baptist Homes for the Aging — a man whose dedication helped turn a shared vision into a lasting ministry.
The story of ThriveMore begins in the mid 20th century, when Baptists across North Carolina came together with a clear purpose: to care for older adults with dignity, compassion, and faith. That vision took form in 1951 with the founding of Baptist Homes for the Aging, which would later become Baptist Retirement Homes and, eventually, ThriveMore. Though the organization’s name has evolved, its mission has remained constant — and Jim Hayes was instrumental in setting that course from the very beginning.
According to his family, Hayes did not step into this role lightly. After serving as a pastor in Winston Salem, he was selected to lead the effort to establish the homes. The decision required deep personal discernment. He went home, prayed about it, and then announced to his congregation that he would be leaving the church to devote himself fully to this new calling.
“When he started, they didn’t have a penny,” his grandson Ed Johnson recalled. He didn’t say yes because of money or prestige, but because he felt God told him to.
That leap of faith was rooted in Hayes’ own life story. Raised in rural North Carolina outside Wilkesboro, he grew up in poverty after his father died at a young age. Despite those hardships, education and perseverance shaped his path. He earned a law degree from Wake Forest, later completed seminary, and felt called to ministry even while studying law. His background in both law and theology would later prove invaluable as he worked to build an organization from the ground up.
Ed believes his grandfather’s motivation was clear and deeply held. “He felt an obligation as a Christian and a Baptist minister that you had to take care of your older folks,” he said. That conviction became the heartbeat of Baptist Homes for the Aging — and continues to echo through ThriveMore’s work today.
“Granddaddy would be proud,” he said of ThriveMore today. Often organizations lose sight of their mission over the years, but that hasn’t happened with ThriveMore.
“I think what ya’ll have done is you’ve grown, but you’ve kept the same loving attention – and that’s hard to do,” Ed said.
For Hayes’ daughter Phyllis Hayes Johnson, the mission of caring for older adults was not abstract — it was woven into everyday life in the Hayes household. She remembers vivid scenes from her teenage years, including time spent at Westhaven and working as a switchboard operator one summer.
“Those were interesting years,” she said. “Daddy was so dedicated. He was terribly dedicated to the Baptist Retirement Homes.”
That dedication often meant long days and little separation between work and family life. It required a lot of commitment and support from his wife Eileen, who was truly a partner with him in the mission. Phyllis remembers how difficult it could be to get her father to leave work and come home for supper. His commitment was total — not out of obligation, but out of belief in the importance of the work.
The family also recalls how personally invested Hayes was in what he was building. Ed d his sister Virginia Cummings would stay with their grandparents in the summer and Jim would always take them to the homes to visit residents.
“That was a regular thing we would do – going and visiting residents,” Virginia said. Jim wanted to show his grandchildren what he had helped create — not as an accomplishment to boast about, but as a living expression of the mission he believed in.
Hayes remained deeply committed to Baptist Retirement Homes throughout his life and later returned to practicing law after leaving the organization. He died in 1986, but his influence endures — not only in ThriveMore’s growth, but in the values that continue to guide it.
As ThriveMore reflects on more than 75 years of service, Jim Hayes’ legacy remains firmly woven into its story. His leadership was not defined by titles or recognition, but by faith, sacrifice, and a steadfast belief that caring for older adults is sacred work.
Generations later, that belief continues to shape ThriveMore — a living testament to the man who helped bring the mission to life and the family who remembers why it began.