CLIFFORD HAUGEN obituary

Clifford Gaylord Haugen, 83, of Havre died Monday, Aug. 15, 2005, at Northern Montana Hospital, surrounded by his family.

Public visitation will take place at Holland & Bonine Funeral Home in Havre from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday. His funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday

at First Lutheran Church with the Rev. Brad Ulgenes officiating. Burial with full military honors will follow at the Highland Cemetery. A fellowship luncheon will be held at the church immediately after the service at the graveside.

Memorials in Clifford's honor may be made to First Lutheran Church or The Gift of Life Housing in Great Falls.

Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Holland & Bonine Funeral Home.

Clifford was born to Anton and Nikolina (Ingebritsen) Haugen on Feb. 6, 1922, in Mandan, N.D., where he attended school.

In 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, training in Texas and Colorado, after which he was assigned to the 86th Mountain Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, deployed to Italy. He was honorably discharged in 1945 with the Medal of Bravery.

Haugen worked in various jobs including mining and logging on the West Coast before marrying Ruby S. Marsten on July 15, 1950. Together, they settled into a lifelong love of farming east of Havre and raised their family. He stayed closely tied to the business until shortly before his death.

Clifford was an active volunteer in the rural community for many years. He served as a telephone line supervisor for Holt Telephone when it expanded east. He held a Davey School board member position for more than 15 years. In 1999, Clifford was honored for 22 years of service by the Bears Paw Volunteer Fire Department.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Ruby; daughters, Sandra (John) Glover of Kent, Wash., Arlys (Glen) Finch of Dexter, Minn., Marcia (Don) Verploegen, Vicki (Joe) Verploegen, Shelly (Lon) Ohm and Stacey (Lon) Waid, all of Havre; brothers, Andrew Haugen of Fort Benton and Harold Haugen of Mandan, N.D.; 21 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers and sisters, Aasta, Martin, Agnes, Albert, Emil, Arthur, Ingvar, Ada, Andrew K., Ida, Andrew Justin, Kenneth, Donald and Gordon; and grandson, Jerod Verploegen, son of Vicki and Joe Verploegen.

Memorials in Clifford's honor may be made to First Lutheran Church or The Gift of Life Housing in Great Falls.

Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Holland & Bonine Funeral Home.