Dennis Charles Haws

Ten days after Pearl Harbor was attacked, on December 17th, 1941, a

tiny red headed baby was born to Virginia Grace Hines & Darold Arvol

Haws in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Dennis Charles Haws had made his entrance.

The world did not know what it was in for!

When Dennis was quite young Darold and Grace moved to the Portland

area and started a car wrecking yard under the St. John’s Bridge.

Dennis was the second oldest in a family of 9 children. It was a hard

life back in those days, and the family suffered the loss of two

siblings early in life. He grew up with 5 brothers and 1 sister.

Dennis was a vivacious and adventurous child. He was always running

off, spending as much of his childhood outside as he could get away

with. There are stories of Grace tying him to the porch to keep him

from running off and disappearing on an adventure in the wrecking

yard. As he got older, he was always concocting some sort of

shenanigans… putting pennies on the train tracks to smash them flat,

blowing up ant hills with firecrackers, and he even attempted holding

a firecracker in his teeth one time… that did not turn out so well! He

was a rascal, practical joker and dare devil from the beginning, a

real go-getter.

Dennis began his boxing career as a teenager. Dennis boxed in the

featherweight class. Richard Sue, one of his best friends, often

sparred with Dennis and they would attend each other’s bouts. He

practiced hard and excelled in the sport. Dennis was invited to attend

a tournament in Madison Square Gardens in New York. He won trophies

and multiple Golden Glove awards in the early 1960’s.

Dennis met Sharon, the love of his life, on a blind date set up by his

cousin and her best friend. It was a whirlwind romance that began in

March, at the movie “Babes in Toyland”. They decided 6 months later to

get married on August 31st, 1963. They celebrated 60 years of marriage

last summer. Dennis and Sharon’s life together was blessed by two

amazing children. Lisa was born in August of 1964 and Denise was born

in February of 1966. Life was filled with hunting, fishing, and

camping trips to the Oregon Coast. Trips included loads of cousins,

Aunts, and Uncles. Weekend get-togethers always culminated in a big

Sunday dinner at the Farm with Grandpa Darold and Grandma Grace. The

Farm boasted acres to explore and a creek to swim and catch crawdads

in. After Grandpa Darold passed on, the boys were always there to lend

a hand to Grandma Grace with her chores. Dennis and his brothers also

loved to race motorbikes in the hills just West of town. The brothers

would often get together for an afternoon of rowdy racing with their

families in tow. Dennis enjoyed jalopy racing in Jantzen Beach, and

proudly displayed trophies from some of his jaunts around the track.

He was never one to sit still for long. When Lisa was just a baby, he

and Sharon bought a tiny house in North Portland. However, it did not

stay tiny for long. Together they knocked down walls and expanded to

create space for their growing family.

When they were first married Dennis worked at Nicolai Door

Manufacturing Company. When the opportunity arose, he began his career

as a ship repairperson at Dillingham Ship Repair in 1966. Dennis took

an early retirement and started working at Tidewater Barge and

completely retired from working in May of 2004.

In the summer of 1977, the family moved from their small home in

Portland, over the river to spacious acreage in Vancouver. Dennis

always enjoyed tending to his plants and his garden. Every year he

tilled up his yard and planted a large variety of produce. Delicious

fresh vegetables from his garden made their way to the table with

every meal. He also planted many kinds of fruit trees. At harvest

time, everyone pitched in to help with preserving and canning.

Dennis’ farming expanded from gardening to raising animals. He raised

cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, geese, turkeys, ducks, rabbits and

countless dogs and cats. To accommodate his ever-growing farm, he

built several barns, each one larger than the previous. Additionally,

Dennis began a small family business by planting a Christmas Tree

farm. Even though Lisa and Denise were teenagers, the whole family

participated. Dennis was industrious and had a sharp mind for ideas to

save money or make a dollar. His frugal mindset left him puzzling

about how to fix or improve things around the farm, often using

unconventional means. One of his famous sayings was, “Oh, it’s just a

temporary fix”, but often he would never get back to it. Duct tape and

super glue could always be found in his iconic sweatpants' pockets.

Dennis had a heart of gold. Though he tried to hide it, all his

family and friends could see through his gruff exterior. Dennis was a

family man who cared for and about his people. Often people would turn

to Dennis for help and after some shrewd and tough questions, he and

Sharon would decide together how to help.

Dennis deeply loved all his grandchildren. He was born to be a

grandpa. From the very beginning he doted on his grandkids. He would

snatch them up first thing when he would get home from work, greasy

overalls and all. He loved them, and they loved him right back. They

followed him around from the time they could walk, proud to be

“Grandpa’s little helper” on his current project. Birthdays were a

special occasion, and Dennis had a big fish bowl filled with quarters.

Each grandkid got a turn digging their hand in and scooping out as

many quarters as possible in one handful. Dennis loved making memories

by taking the kids on adventures, whether it was a trip to Disneyland,

Yellowstone, the new Ice Capades, OMSI, the Zoo, the Park, the ice

cream shop or the dollar store, it didn’t matter. Grandpa Dennis made

the yard a playground for the kids. He bought trampolines, play sets,

a HUGE slide, merry-go-rounds, bikes, go-carts, swimming pools… on and

on…especially at a garage sale! Anything he couldn’t buy, he built: a

sandbox, a treehouse, and even a big tarp swimming pool. Dennis would

work to ensure there was never a dull moment at Grandma and Grandpa’s

house. Honestly, he made sure every kid who came over had fun,

“Everyone was welcome!”.

On his grumpiest, most difficult days, all it took to bring him out of

his mood was one of his great grandchildren to talk to him on the

phone or walk into the room. His eyes would light up with a twinkle!

Dennis’ love language consisted of teasing banter. He often accused

others of being the mischief maker even though we all knew the “true”

identity of the instigator. His grandkids and now great-grand kids

teasingly called him Grandpa Stinker. Everyone knew it’s what made

Dennis, Dennis.

Dennis was diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in 2015.

For several years his symptoms were mild, but as the disease

progressed, life became more difficult, and his health declined. There

were many small challenges along the way, but some significant ones

changed their living situation. About 6 months ago he and Sharon moved

to Spokane to be closer to Lisa and some of her kids, so they could

help Dennis and Sharon as they adjusted to new needs.

Dennis had some difficulties and was hospitalized for a few months. He

had just been released from the hospital and was getting settled into

a beautiful family home where he was beginning to enjoy life, dancing

with his housemates and caregivers, helping around the house with his

generous helpful heart, laughing, joking and of course being ornery.

He was doing better when unexpectedly, on February 19th, he was gone.

Dennis is preceded by his parents, his brothers Larry, Monty, David,

Jeffrey, and his Daughter Denise. He is survived by his beautiful wife

Sharon, his Daughter Lisa, 9 grandchildren, Sarah (Aaron), Joseph

(Jennifer), Aderyn, Elizabeth (James), Deric (Nora), Corina (Kyle),

Alisa (Nathan), Andrew, Abigail; 14 Great-grandchildren, Zavian,

Mùirnin, Emmett, Hendrik, Brayden, Evelyn, Tobias, Jessica, Victoria,

Elayne, Milo, Aurora, Greyson, Hayden.