By Olivia Bradbury/Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Anyone who has ever stopped by Cape Broyle for a feed of fish and chips or a cold brew over the past 40 years can probably say they were served by Harold Hayden.
The former owner and operator of the Riverside Restaurant and Lounge, and a beloved father, grandfather, and friend, passed away January 16 at the age of eighty-seven.
Harold met his wife Nora in Goose Bay in 1956. Nora, originally from Paradise River, worked at Ward’s Pharmacy, while Harold worked at the military base as a painter, plasterer, and maintenance man. They were married for 64 years until Nora’s death in January of 2024. They built their first house in Goose Bay, where their first three children were born, and in 1970 moved to Harold’s hometown of Cape Broyle, where they had two more children.
That’s where Harold purchased a house and business from his brother, Michael.
When he first bought it, the business was a takeout, but he turned it into the Riverside Restaurant and Lounge people know today. He worked at the restaurant for 32 years, becoming as familiar a face to patrons going up and down the shore as anyone.
Despite not having a formal education, said his son Rick and business successor in an interview last week, Harold excelled in his work and was a markedly successful business owner.
When asked what he learned from his father, Rick, who took over the Riverside after Harold’s retirement, didn’t even have to think about it.
“Hard work don’t kill anybody,” he said, recalling his father’s words. “And if you want something, and you want it to thrive, in business or whatever, in order to get ahead, you have to work at it. And one thing Dad always said to me, he said, ‘You treat everybody the same, my son, and you keep your business clean, and you’ll always have a business.’”
Rick said his father was quiet but sociable, always happy to talk with others.
“He knew everybody from Trepassey right down to past Bay Bulls. He knew everybody and everybody knew him,” said Rick. Outside of work, Harold enjoyed fishing and hunting in the country, particularly with his friend Denny Stratton, as well as playing cards.
Harold was predeceased by his wife, Nora; his parents, Ronald and Elizabeth Hayden; his parents-in-law, Arthur and Gemima Learning; his grandson, Jacob Puddister; his brothers: Vince, Stan, Michael, Lawrence, Frank, Ronald, Randell, William, and Cyril; and his sisters: Hilda, Rita, Sally and Joan.
Hayden leaves to mourn his five children: Sandra, Richard (Linda), Elizabeth, Marlie (Keegan), and Lesa (Neil); his grandchildren: Jimmy (Cynthia), Melanie (Bill), Tyler (Katelyn), Kelsey (Julia), Brittney (Lucas), Kali, Erin, Natalie (Owen) and Nielle (Colby); his great-grandchildren: Calista, Lyla, Jesse, Hayden, Chase, and Lennon; his best friends: Denny Stratton, Helen Hawkins, Raymie O’Brien; his song friends, card friends, and special nieces and nephews.
Harold was buried alongside his wife’s grave at Our Lady of the Cape Roman Catholic Cemetery in Cape Broyle on January 19. The funeral was followed by a celebration of life at the Riverside Restaurant and Lounge, which saw a huge attendance.
“I’m telling you, I’ve never seen such a crowd in my life as was at the Riverside on Sunday,” Rick said. “You wouldn’t get a pea in there, there were that many people there.”
The turnout, he allowed, was a testament to how many lives Harold Hayden touched, and the pillar of the community he was in Cape Broyle.
