Jake was born to Jacob and Violet (Renz) Haas on 8/8/1939 in Wellington, CO. He was from a large family with 7 siblings. He was of German heritage and took much pride in his cultural roots. His family always worked hard and Jake learned the skills of farming while growing up and attending various schools in Weld County. He graduated from Greeley High (now Greeley Central) in 1958. Not long after that he and Erma Stephenson were married.
Jake learned commercial painting early in his life and made his entire career from it. He was an owner of Décor Ltd from 1970 to 1976. He then started Jake’s Painting and Wallpapering. He sometimes had a crew of men working for him and other times worked on his own. He was one of the hardest working people you would ever know. A full day of work meant a lot to him. He did everything from residential to large commercial projects, both locally and out of state. He was very much a self-made man and his work was widely respected and admired. His family was always pleased to hear from people who spoke so well of his work.
One of Jake’s passions was working on Mopar cars. He owned many different models over the years and loved getting them running and fixed up. He belonged to a car club and enjoyed comparing stories with the other members. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t figure out how to fix and he not only worked on many cars, he could get any piece of machinery working. He also designed and built additions to his house which was a big accomplishment. He was energetic and always had something keeping him busy.
He enjoyed getting together with friends and family to have German food and celebrate the holidays. He knew so many people in his life and had many stories to share. In his later years he enjoyed talking about the old days and his family and work stories.
He is survived by daughter Suann Haas, son Brian Haas, grandchildren Bree Haas and Brandon Haas, and sister Jackie Houser, as well as many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by a valued friend, Larry (Schmitty) Schmitz. The family is very grateful to Larry for all he did for Jake. He was preceded in death by his parents, and siblings Frances Trupp, MaryAnn Mackey, Melvin Haas, Jennette Brown, Ron Haas, and Gerry Heinrich.
A service will be scheduled at a later date.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18