Jay Patrick Hauger

Jay Patrick Hauger    

May 3, 1937 – December 10, 2019    

Jay Patrick Hauger, 82, was surrounded by his loving family in body and spirit when he went to be with the Lord on December 10, 2019.  Jay was the loving husband of Nancy Suzanne (Lee) Hauger.  They shared 60 blessed years of marriage together.  Jay was born in Albany, Oregon, on May 3, 1937, to Dixie (Brown) and Fred Hauger.  He spent his childhood in Portland, where his step-mother, Vida, and step-sister, Laurine, came into his life.  Also part of Jay’s life was his half-brother, Mark Karson.  Jay attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and graduated from Valparaiso University in Indiana, before marrying Nancy, his college sweetheart, on August 22, 1959.  Jay and Nancy began their married life in Valparaiso, where they had their first child, Deborah Karen (Deb), then moved to Beaverton, Oregon, in 1962, where their next two children, Christine Marie (Chris) and Jay Douglas (Doug), were born.  Jay spent several years working as an electrical engineer for Pacific Power and Light in Portland.  

In 1969 Jay and Nancy began the adventure of their lives when they accepted a Call from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to serve as missionaries in Nigeria.  After spending one year with their family serving as house parents at a Lutheran hostel in Jos, they moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they continued their service for the next four years, with Jay working at Radio Voice of the Gospel.  Jay always said that these years with his family in Ethiopia were the best years of his life!     

Returning to the States in 1974, Jay and family moved to a tree farm, their beloved “Hauger Mountain,” acquired by Jay’s father, Fred, near Seaside and Cannon Beach, Oregon.  Here they built their home and spent the next 41 years.  During his first years back in the States, in addition to managing the tree farm, Jay worked for a general contractor building custom homes, was the projectionist at the movie theater in Seaside, and was a math teacher at Clatsop Community College.  During this time he developed and later launched a successful computer business, and enjoyed many years serving the community, and the world, as a brilliant, creative, problem-solving software engineer and designer.  He was truly a renaissance man!  In addition to his work, Jay loved singing in choirs, attending church, working on and enjoying the quiet beauty of the tree farm, participating in community theater, spending time watching the ocean, skiing, doing photography (a major passion and talent of Jay's!), doing great work as a Rotary member, reading, traveling with Nancy, spending winters in Arizona, and making friends all over the world through ham radio connections.  Jay loved his family deeply, and was a wonderful, loving husband, father, and grandfather. The loss of his oldest child, Deb, from a heart attack in 1994, impacted his life greatly.    

In 2015, some years after retiring, Jay and Nancy moved to Seattle to be closer to Chris (West Seattle) and Doug (Redmond, now Leavenworth, WA) and their families.  One of Jay’s greatest joys during his years in Seattle was having visiting time with his four grandchildren – at family gatherings in Leavenworth, going for picnics at the water's edge of Puget Sound, and at his nursing home in Burien.  Another great joy was participating as a beloved member of his church, Peace Lutheran, where his son-in-law, Erik Kindem, serves as pastor.  He loved sharing the peace with congregation members, being lovingly greeted by friends as they made their way up for communion, receiving communion each Sunday, and singing the hymns in his strong, beautiful bass voice.  Jay lived a rich, full life, filled with God's abundant blessings, love, and grace! 

Jay is survived by his wife, Nancy; daughter, Chris Kindem (Erik); son, Doug Hauger (Christine Trigg); his four grandchildren: Indigo Trigg-Hauger, Aiden Trigg-Hauger, Kai Kindem, and Naomi Kindem; as well as two step-grandchildren, Nathan Petersen-Kindem (Deyhdra Dennis-Weiss), and Megan Webber (Tyler).  Jay was preceded in death by his daughter, Deborah Karen Hauger.   

Jay's life will be celebrated at a Memorial Service at Peace Lutheran Church, 8316 39th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98136, on Saturday, December 28th, 2019, at 1:00pm. Phone: 206-935-1962.    

Donations in memory of Jay can be made to:    

Ethiopia Reads:    

https://www.ethiopiareads.org/get-involved/donate/    

PO Box 50393, Minneapolis, MN 55405    

Phone:  612-354-2184    

Maji Development Coalition:    

http://www.carolinekurtz.org/2019/02/19/maji-development-coalition-mdc-doors-open/    

P.O. Box 176652    

Portland, OR  97217-6819    

Phone:  503-409-2613    

Peace Lutheran Church:    

http://www.peacelutheranseattle.org    

8316 39th Ave. SW    

Seattle, WA  98136-2351    

Phone:  206-935-1962    

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