Cathy Haney was the driving force of the Clay County Historical Society and Museum for at least forty years. To say the "Hat Lady" had many hats is an understatement. She was curator, a searcher of history, and a researcher of Clay County, with knowledge of the surrounding counties as well. Her sources and ideas came from all over, not just the county, but the United States, because she traveled whenever she could.

She was an only child raised by a community and she knew everything that happened in that community.

She was always outgoing and her way was usually the right way, unless you showed her otherwise.

You knew when she was coming down the hall, the clop - clop meant that she was on her way somewhere. She was never able to find a pair of shoes that fit and the older the shoes, the noisier they got.