William Hayes Old, a retired purchasing director for a New York boiler manufacturer, died Tuesday of cancer at Fairhaven, the Sykesville retirement community where he had lived for eight years. He was 83.

Services for Mr. Old were being held today at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Sykesville.

He had moved to Fairhaven from Charlottesville, Va., where he had lived since his retirement in 1971.

Born in Norfolk, Va., he was a 1928 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and attended the Harvard University School of Business.

He is survived by his wife, the former Louisa Clark; two sons, William Hayes Old Jr. of White Post, Va., and John Peyton Old of Moorestown, N.Y.; and three grandsons.

The family suggested that memorial contributions could be made to the Virginia Military Institute Foundation in Lexington, Va.