Edwin Dewey Haynes
Aug. 28, 1922 - Aug. 29, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008 12:32 AM PDT
Eugene
Edwin D. Haynes, beloved husband, father and grandfather, educator, community leader, Democrat, actor, piano player, cat lover, pool player and raconteur extraordinaire died peacefully at his home in Eugene on Friday, Aug. 29, 2008.
Ed was born in Edwardsville, Ill., in 1922 to William and Jennie Haynes, the youngest of seven children. Because they christened him after his sister’s husband, Edwin Dewey Hartung, Ed received free haircuts until he was 18 in Hartung’s pool hall. As a result, Ed became an excellent, life-long pool player, much to the consternation of his Southern Baptist mother and sisters. Even at 85, using the table as a support, Ed could beat his friends at pool. He also remained a lifelong believer, drawing on his early experiences in the Edwardsville Southern Baptist Church.
The Haynes family entertained themselves with music. Ed’s father played the banjo, his mother played the guitar and Ed played the piano and sang in the church choir. His favorite song was “St. Louis Blues,” which he could play by heart well into his 50s.
Ed acted in revues and plays in his youth, and, as an adult, he acted in several Treasure Valley Community College productions, playing leads in “The Odd Couple” and “Antigone.”
Ed enlisted in the Army in 1943 and was trained as a medical technician. He served in New Guinea and the Philippines in the 409th Surgical Hospital. After the war, Ed went to the University of Illinois on the GI bill, receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English.
Ed became a charismatic, talented and popular college instructor. He taught at North Texas State, and then moved on to William Woods College in Missouri, where his children Michelle and Mark were born in the early 1950s. Later, he taught for several years at Northern Montana State and Wisconsin State.
In June 1960, he met the great love of his life, Dale Roberta Stevens. He was instantly smitten, and, carried away by love, he asked her to marry him the next February on Valentine’s Day.
“Well, what’s wrong with next Friday?” she countered.
And so it was that they were married on July 15, 1960. Eleven months later, their son, Bryan, was born.
Dale put off finishing her education and gamely took on responsibility for mothering their blended family. Their family was completed in 1962 with the birth of their daughter, Jennifer.
In 1963, Ed took on a new project ” helping to build a new community college. He moved the family to Ontario and took a position as an English instructor at Treasure Valley Community College, which then held its classes at night at Ontario High School. Soon, he became Dean of Instruction, and he worked for 27 years to build the college into a quality academic institution. The entire family became involved with TVCC: Dale also worked at the college for years, and all four of their children attended TVCC after graduating from Ontario High School.
Ed retired in 1987, and subsequently served as the president of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. After Dale retired, they moved to Ashland, Ore., where they immersed themselves in play-going and cultural opportunities, and made a number of new friends.
In 2005, the family moved to Eugene, where Ed single-handedly willed his cherished St. Louis Cardinals to victory in the 2005 World Series. Ed was blessed with an iron constitution, and even though he smoked heavily for 50 years, he enjoyed good health until the final two years of his life. In the end, it took cancer, emphysema and Alzheimer’s to bring him down at the age of 86.
With wit and wisdom, Ed lived life the way he most enjoyed. He deeply loved his family and his friends, his cats and his comfortable home. He was a lifelong Democrat who cared passionately about social issues, a kind man who seasoned every conversation with grace and humor.
Ed passed away on Aug. 29th, one day after his 86th birthday. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones and cats. He is survived by his beloved wife, Dale; children, Michelle, of Lake Oswego, Mark, of Eagle Point, Bryan, of Eugene, and Jennifer, of San Francisco, Calif.; granddaughters, Molly Boyles and Brittany Christy; and three great-grandchildren.
Memorials should go to Treasure Valley Community College, 650 College Blvd., Ontario, OR 97914.
