Endre and Thyra Haugen – Haugen’s Studio
Endre and Thyra Haugen – Haugen’s Studio
Endre N. Haugen, 85, of 520 S. 3rd St., who opened the Haugen’s Studio here 30 years ago, died at his home after a long illness. Funeral rites have not been set. The body is at the Squire-Simmons-Carr Mortuary.
He was born Jan. 13, 1868, in Minnesota and married Thyra Kringelback in Minneapolis on June 6, 1897. They observed their 56th wedding anniversary last June.
The couple moved to Great Falls in 1898 where he was employed by the Strain Brothers Department Store and subsequently to Choteau where he ran a store. They came to Missoula in 1923 and operated the Haugen Studio which now is owned by a son, Robert.
Mr. Haugen was a Methodist. He belonged to Harmony Lodge 49, AF&AM; Western Sun Chapter 11, RAM; St. Omer Commandery 9, Knights Templar, and Electa Chapter 7, OES. He was a past patron of Fidelity Chapter 18, OES, at Choteau.
Survivors are; Widow, Thyra; two sons, Robert of Missoula and Eugene of Phoenix, Ariz.; five daughters, Mrs. Hilmer Hansen of Helena, Miss Margie Haugen of Peru, Neb., Miss Ruth Haugen of New York City, Mrs. M. R. Jacobs of California and Mrs. J. M. McCollum of Utica; 12 grandchildren.
The obituary above appeared in The Missoulian on August 18, 1953.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/349644203
Thyra Haugen obituary:
Thyra Haugen, 99, who with her husband founded Haugen’s photographic studio in Missoula, died Monday in a Missoula nursing home.
She was born Nov. 26, 1878, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and came to the United States at the age of two.
She married Endre J. Haugen in 1897 in Minneapolis. The couple moved to Choteau in 1898. In 1923 the Haugens moved to Missoula, where they started their studio. Mr. Haugen died in 1953 and Mrs. Haugen had resided in Missoula since.
Mrs. Haugen was a member of the First United Methodist Church and Order of Eastern Star, Electa Chapter 7.
Survivors include five daughters, Mrs. Dorothy McCallum, Hobson; Mrs. Ethel Jacobs, San Jose, Calif.; Marguerite Haugen, Phoenix, Ariz.; Ruth Haugen, Missoula; Mrs. Alice Hansen, Helena; a son, Robert E., Missoula; 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Squire-Simmons-Carr Rose Chapel with Rev. William Kliber officiating. Burial will be in Missoula Cemetery.
The family suggests memorials be sent to the Masonic Vigilante Fund, Grand Lodge Building, 425 N. Park, Helena, 59601, or the charity of one’s choice.
The obituary above appeared in The Missoulian on March 28, 1978.
Although Thrya Haugen was a few months shy of the century mark when she died, her daughter Ruth accomplished the feat in 2009, while living in Missoula. In February of 2010 Ruth was featured in a Missoulian story – see below:
Western Montana Lives: Ruth Haugen cherished living life, caring for nephew
By Chelsi Moy of the Missoulian – Feb 15, 2010
Ruth Haugen’s wish on her 100th birthday was obvious, perhaps.
“Continue living,” she said a year ago, nestled comfortably in a green recliner in the living room of the white house on Third Street where she’d lived the past 70 years.
Life was something Haugen cherished – primarily the small things in life. The things most busy people tend not to notice.
“Every morning, she would walk into her living room like it was the first time, and look out the big front window and say how beautiful it was,” said Patricia Cloud, friend and caregiver.
Nine months after her birthday, the avid reader, longtime Missoula resident and centenarian died, leaving behind a lifetime of caring for the mentally ill, and a legacy of love.
Haugen never married and had no children, but for 51 years cared for her mentally ill nephew, Robert Haugen Jr. She orchestrated a team of specialists consisting of art therapists and movement-education professionals so Bob could reach his fullest potential, Cloud said. She was a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
For more than three decades, Father George Dumais has operated Rockmont Inc., a home for people with disabilities. Every month, he would receive a $5 donation from Haugen. When Dumais would host dances, Haugen would bring Bob.
“Ruth was very supportive of everything I did,” he said. “She was certainly a very generous, very kind person. She did the little bit she could to help me with my home.”
Haugen cared for Bob until she was 93, when Bob went to a home.
“She cherished every year with Bob,” Cloud said.
Haugen was not very social, especially during the years she cared for Bob. But once on her own, Haugen slowly began opening up to others. Her last decade was the most vivacious as that of anyone Cloud has ever known. She was open to trying new things and meeting new people.
“As time passed, in the late 90s, she could hug better than most people I know,” Cloud said.
Haugen loved to read, picking up books on brain research, nutrition, education, current events, and in her later years, on spirituality, but not necessarily religion. Learning of a new author led Haugen to immediately buy his or her book. Multiple copies, in fact, so she could keep one and give the others away as gifts.
She took an interest in politics and watched C-SPAN religiously, but never understood the practical side of policy because she remained fairly secluded in her home, Cloud said.
It was the home where Haugen was raised.
Her mother, Thyra, a gifted photographer, moved the family in 1923 from Choteau to Missoula so the seven children could eventually attend the University of Montana. Haugen was the middle child. Their mother eventually opened Haugen Photography Studio, which serviced local schools and organizations for decades.
Haugen graduated from Missoula County High School in 1927 and attended the University of Montana, graduating with a degree in 1933. She earned a master’s degree in nutrition in 1946 from the Teacher’s College of Columbia University.
She worked as a dietician at a Presbyterian hospital in New York and later in food services at UM, where she was employed until her retirement in 1978.
“One day she told me she wasn’t getting around like she used to, then she turned around and literally flew up the stairs,” said her niece Marlena Haugen-Stalcup. “I had the hardest time keeping up with her.”
When Haugen-Stalcup was growing up, she would visit her great-aunt in Missoula. She and her companions would slide down the steep stairs of Haugen’s home on picnic table cushions.
“When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we laughed so hard we cried,” said Haugen-Stalcup, 44, of Arizona. “Even though our rear ends hurt so much, it was the time of our lives. Aunt Ruthie laughed so hard also because it reminded her of doing it once or twice!”
Not only did Haugen maintain an intellectual vigor until the end, but she barely took any medications – just emphasized a healthy diet and exercise. Her skin was remarkably smooth for someone with a century behind her. The secret? Lotion, she said then.
From time to time, Haugen would say, “I just can’t understand how I’m so lucky to have all these wonderful people around me,” Cloud recalls.
But truly, the lucky ones were those who had Haugen in their lives.
Ruth’s brother Robert died in Missoula in 1998. His obituary appears below:
Robert Endre “Bob” Haugen Missoula – Robert Endre “Bob” Haugen, 85, retired photographer and longtime resident of Missoula, died Thursday, June 11, of natural causes.
He was born on Oct. 2, 1912, in Choteau to Endre N. Haugen and Thyra Kringlebach Haugen. In 1923, he moved to Missoula.
After attending the University of Montana in 1932 to 1934 and the New York Institute of Photography, he served in the Air Force in World War II then operated a photographic business in Missoula for 35 years.
Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Peggy and Charles Bloom of Missoula, granddaughter, Jeanne Bloom of Missoula; son, Bob Jr. of Missoula; sister, Ruth Haugen of Missoula; sister, Ether Jacobs of San Jose, Calif.; sister, Alice Hansen of Helena; and stepdaughters Mary Pitch of Helena, Helen Mulroney of Bozeman and Nancy Hutchinson of Ketchum, Idaho.
At Mr. Haugen’s request no services will be held. Cremation has taken place under the direction of the Malletta Family of Funeral Homes, Squire Chapel. A reception in his memory will be held at the Holiday Inn Parkside in Missoula on Saturday, June 20 from 3 to 5 p.m. for friends and relatives.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials to the charity of the donor’s choice.
The above obituary appeared in The Missoulian on June 15, 1998.
In 1936 Robert Haugen married fellow U of M student, Margaret Jane Guthrie. She was a sister of Montana novelist A. B. Guthrie. Robert married Missoula native Olive Mcleod Mulroney in 1966.