Frank “Pancho” Hays III, one of Colorado’s best-known lobbyists, had a career “doing what he was born to do,” said lifelong friend Jim Beimford of unincorporated Arapahoe County.
Hays, who was involved in high-profile issues campaigns for years, died in Denver on Sunday. He was 50.
A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. today in the old Colorado Supreme Court chambers on the second floor of the Capitol. Friends will gather afterward at City Grille, 321 E. Colfax Ave.
Cause of death hasn’t been determined, said his sister, Lori Hays of Loveland. “But his body was just worn out from drinking,” she added.
Even recently, family and friends were trying to get him to get help for the drinking. “We never stopped loving him,” his sister said.
The name Pancho, a Spanish nickname for Francisco, was inherited from Frank Hays’ father, Frank Hays II, who was so nicknamed by Hispanic legislators in the 1950s, Lori Hays said. The legislators then called Frank Hays III “Poco Pancho.”
“It didn’t stick long with my dad, but it stuck with my brother and no one but family members called him Frank,” she said.
The father and son worked together in lobbying for years. Before his lobbying career, the elder Hays was in the legislature and was lieutenant governor from 1957 to 1959. He died in 2003.
Frank Hays III, “a staunch Republican,” according to Lori Hays, worked for the tobacco industry to stop smoking bans, for Ski Country USA, against closing the circus (pushed by animal rights activists) and for the gambling industry when it wanted to expand in Colorado. He also worked for the Colorado Horse Racing Association, for the liquor wholesalers and for Envirotest, a company hired to test vehicle emissions.
“He was wonderful with people and not manipulative,” his sister said. “He spent time with his kids. He didn’t just throw money at them,” she said.
“He would help anybody who needed it, but he had a cynical wit and could spot a phony at 50 feet,” Beimford said.
Frank Hays liked to dress well, “but he shopped only when he had to. It wasn’t a sport with him,” Lori Hays said.
Frank Lazmer Hays III was born Nov. 9, 1954, in Denver and graduated from George Washington High School. He studied political science for three years at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
He married Lynn Wilson in 1978. They had two daughters before divorcing. Lynn Hays died earlier this year.
In addition to his sister, Frank Hays is survived by daughters Lindsey Hays of Fernley, Nev., and Lacey Hays of Golden, and his mother, Virginia Lou Hilton Hays of Aurora.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or at 303-820-1223.
