John Keith Haws

I am writing this obituary myself in February 2016 with a few blanks to be filled in. I’m doing this because I know myself better than anyone else, and so that my family does not have to look up a lot of information while the mortician is pushing to get my obit.

At this time I know something that you don’t: what it is like to be dead. And you know something that I don’t: how I died.

(John passed away at home surrounded by family on October 11, 2020.)

I was born at home in Vernal, Utah on March 21, 1929, the fourth of five sons to Jesse A and Lena Eaton Haws.

I attended Uintah High School. After school I worked for the local newspaper hand setting type and running the presses. During the summer I worked on an oil rig and for the Forest Service. I enjoyed my own darkroom and processed my own photos for several years. I have also spent many pleasant hours in my woodworking shop.

After high school graduation, I attended BYU for one year after which I served a mission for 30 months in Argentina. We didn’t travel by air then; it took 19 days on board a ship to arrive in Argentina. While in Chubut we tracted on horseback.

Following my mission, I again attended BYU for one year and was then drafted into the Army and served in Verdun, France for 18 months. My four brothers and I all served overseas.

I married Beverly Jayne Walker on November 1, 1957. We enjoyed a family of six boys, Judge Curt (Charisse Meadows); Judge David (Heidi Wilson); Dr. Larry (Kathy Nate); Dallin, VFX artist at Warner Bros. (Michelle Gilson); DDS Steve (Nikki Mikolajacik); Attorney Brian (Reta Skinner); and one daughter, Jillyn Abel (Tim EE Engineer). We have 32 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

I can’t express enough appreciation and love for my dear wife, Beverly, and her energetic influence on me and on our seven children.

We moved to Afton in 1960 to work at Walker Variety Store with Beverly’s parents Lorenzo and Sarah Walker. We eventually purchased the store, which we later sold. I was employed by the Wyoming State Department of Revenue before going to work for Maverik Country Stores.

Through the years I have enjoyed the opportunities for service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.(He served as bishop of the Afton 4th Ward.)  As adults, Beverly and I have served missions in Tampa Bay, Florida (Spanish speaking); at Martin’s Cove; in Chico, California teaching English to workers on the Church farms; and in Salt Lake City with the Perpetual Education Fund.

I felt that the period following the end of World War II was the most stable, desirable, and productive time of my life. A man’s word could be relied on more than a written contract. Government provided a climate where an individual could, through good planning and hard work, be sufficient to himself, confident that eventually he could succeed. There was still time to sit on the front porch and watch the sun go down, visit with neighbors, and develop friendships that would last a lifetime.

Now you know there are hundreds of details that can be told about a lifetime of activities, but that is why we write family histories. If you really care about more details you can read our book, History of Jesse A Haws and Lena Eaton.

I am survived by my dear wife, my brother Max Haws (Shirley), my six sons and their wives, one daughter and her husband, 32 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, with four more on the way.

Sometimes these funerals are the only time we take to see each other and remember what things really count. So just visit and enjoy seeing each other.

Due to current circumstances, the service will be private for his family.