Hayley Gillian Hannel

Hayley Gillian Hannel, 27, of Morehead City, North Carolina, passed away at her home on Thursday, July 11, 2024.

A memorial service to honor Hayley’s life will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, July 17th at Munden Funeral Home. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. For those unable to attend, the service can be viewed through her obituary page on Munden Funeral Home’s website. The service will remain on the Funeral Home website for 90 days.

She was born on November 14, 1996 to Rick and Laura Hannel in Morehead City. A medical mystery almost from the start, Hayley was a beacon of resilience and courage to everyone she met. She met a lot of people because she believed everyone deserved a friendly, albeit loud, greeting and smile. She was a joy bearer, always brave enough to rise above any social anxiety or norms to let everyone around her know she was happy they were here, and she was happy to be here too.

As the youngest of five siblings, Hayley eagerly tagged along with them to their sports games, 4-H club meetings, field trips, and church events. Soon, she inspired her family to create spaces where people of all abilities could play and work together to serve their community. First, they organized a 4-H club for people with disabilities and their families, which grew to over 100 attendees. As Hayley became an adult, it became clear how difficult it was for many families with adult members with disabilities to attend regular church services. Although they were always warmly welcomed within these faith communities, the Sunday services were not always conducive to the boundless energy of people with diverse abilities.

Her sister, Savannah, spearheaded a solution called Abide where people of diverse abilities, ages and life experiences could gather to discover who God is, what He did for us, who we are to Him and how to operate in His unique plan for each one of us. Hayley was her sidekick in all the planning and preparation. The Abide missional community quickly grew and with it a deep desire by those who attended to serve the community around them. Hayley was an active volunteer for all Abide outreaches including Cases for Courage loving children in foster care by providing a quality bag of belongings to each child taken into care in Carteret County; Hearten outreach delivering unique care packages to encourage the social workers at Carteret County Child Protective Services; and Soup for Heroes providing the encouragement of nourishment to the unrecognized superheroes who are making a difference in their communities.

As her dear family friend Pege Jennings wrote, “We are all on a mission here…sent by a God who loves to see us, to borrow an old expression, “bloom where we are planted.” Some of us struggle discerning what that mission might be. Hayley Hannel, despite her challenges knew instinctively what her mission was and she lived it out every day. Her mission among us was to deliver JOY!”

She is survived by her parents Rick and Laura Hannel of Morehead City; sister Lindsay van Zyl (Bruce) of Franklin, TN; brother Tyler Hannel (Nicole) of Norcross, GA; sister Savannah Fifer (Brennan) of Cedar City, UT; brother Cory Hannel (Tayleen) of Tucker, GA; nieces and nephews Evangeline and Natalie Hannel, Hannah van Zyl, Caleb and Archer Fifer; grandmothers Claudia Smith of Morehead City and Donna Washburne of Marietta, GA; Uncles and Aunts John and Gaye Washburne of Roswell, GA; Amy and Shaun Toms of Morehead City; Jeremy and Bethany Smith of Morehead City; Josh and Jessica Smith of Morehead City; Robert Hannel of Rockford, IL; and eleven cousins who were her beloved playmates and cheerleaders.

Hayley was preceded in death by her grandmother Helen Staley; and grandfathers Richard Smith and Maurice “Mike” Washburne.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Abide Missional Community’s Cases of Courage outreach at Northlands.church/abide

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences.

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory in Morehead City, NC.