Obit: Haines, Harold Glenn (1918 - 2018)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Haines, Helgeson, Geier, Nikula, Ross, Kindschi, Averbeck, Emberson, Liebzeit, Gardner, Goeser

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 10/10/2018

Haines, Harold Glenn (21 December 1918 – 28 September 2018)

Harold Glenn Haines “Glenn”, age 99 years and nine months and one week, passed away on Friday September 28, 2018 at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse after a brief illness.

Glenn was born December 21, 1918, to Robert and Gena Helgeson Haines in Montford. As a boy he moved with his family to the Town of Grant, Clark County.

He graduated from Granton High School in 1936, and he worked on the family farm for 20 years. Glenn had his own farm near Neillsville and also worked many years in the door detailing department at Weyerhaeuser Lumber (FKA Roddis) in Marshfield. On the farm, he raised corn fed Hereford cattle for the local market, starting many years before the “buy local” movement. In June 1961 Glenn married Juanita Geier Nikula and gained two sons at the same time. After the twins, Anna and Gina, were born he acquired 3 milking goats that were milked twice a day to provide additional nourishment for the growing family. He retired from Weyerhaeuser in 1986. Glenn and Juanita retired from farming and moved to Sparta in 1988. In 2016, they moved to a senior apartment at MaryCrest in Sparta. There, in 2017, he was honored to be selected as the Valentine King to represent MaryCrest at Sparta Butterfest for the year. At MaryCrest, Glenn amused his friends by telling daily jokes that his Google Assistant provided.

Glenn was a hard-working, sociable, and loving person with an active mind and body, even at age 99. He suffered from macular degeneration during the last years of his life, but he found solace in listening to talking books through the Wisconsin Council for the Blind. Before losing his eyesight, he had a large garden and liked to play cards. He was also an active knitter, knitting Norwegian sweaters for many family members as well as over 100 afghans for the RSVP handcraft program. In 2012, he earned an RSVP award for 25,000 cumulative volunteer hours. When his eyesight began to fail, he had a camera and light system set up so that he could see his work on a TV screen and keep knitting. Later, even after losing most of his eyesight, Glenn usually knew the route on any given road trip and could give directions on where and when to turn.

Glenn is survived by his loving wife, Juanita Haines; daughter, Gina Haines-Ross (Janice); sons, Michael Nikula (Amy Kindschi) and John Nikula (Lisa); granddaughters, Jenna Nikula Averbeck (Micah) and Kayla Nikula (Dan Emberson); grandson, Evan Nikula,; great-grandson, Orion Averbeck; sister, Anne Liebzeit; brother, Eugene “Gene” Haines; and many nephews and nieces.

Glenn was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Anna Marie Haines; brothers, Robert Earl Haines and Francis Haines; sisters, Ella Haines Gardner and Rebecca Haines Goeser; several sisters-in-law, several brothers-in-law, and several nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the MaryCrest staff for all of the assistance and care that was provided to him in his time of need.

Glenn donated his body to the University of Wisconsin Medical School.

Currently, no memorial service is being planned; however, there may be one at a later date.