Henry Haines


Willamette View Manor (13169 S.E. River Road, Portland, OR) at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 1,  2011. Rev. Haines died on September 17 of age-related causes; he was 94. 

Born November 12, 1916, in Wichita, KS, to Wallace and Laura Haines, Henry spent his formative years  in Kansas, Illinois, and Missouri under the tutelage of Florence and Irwin Raut. He graduated from Granite City Community High School (IL) in 1933 and went on to the University of Missouri and Chicago Evangelistic Institute where he received a Bachelor of Sacred Literature degree in 1939 and also met his future wife, Mary Jane Saxton. Henry had received a Local Preacher's License in 1937, and after 

graduation, he and Mary Jane moved to the Pacific Northwest where he served the Duvall (WA) Methodist Church and worked on a Bachelor of Arts from Seattle Pacific College (1941). He completed his undergraduate career with a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Garrett Biblical Institute (now Garrett- Evangelical Theological Seminary) in Evanston, IL, in 1944, and was ordained an Elder in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Methodist Church in 1945.In 1976, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree  from San Francisco Theological Seminary. 

Henry served long pastorates at Edmonds Methodist Church (WA), Trinity Methodist Church in Idaho Falls, and First UMC in Salem (OR). During his pastorate in Salem, he also served on the Board of Trustees for Willamette University. In 1970, he became Superintendent of the Portland West (later the Metropolitan) District of the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference. His final appointment was to Lake Oswego UMC. He retired in 1979 and lived first in west Salem (overlooking the 7th fairway of the Salemtowne golf course) and then in Portland at Willamette View Manor where he died. 

His partner throughout his career was Mary Jane, who preceded him in death in 1997. They married in 1939 and had two sons, Bruce Allan (Donna) of Eugene, OR, and Craig Lamm (Judy) of Bothell, WA. He  is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, four grand-daughters (Carin Schmidt, Gilbert, AZ, Laura Godat, Wake Forest, NC, Erin Harrington, Albany, NY, and Callie Haines, Eugene, OR) and three great-grandchildren. 

Two older brothers, Wallace and John, and an older sister, Isabelle also preceded him in death. Henry found love a second time with Evelyn Gathman Haines, who died in July 2011. He is also survived by her children, Emily Munro (Don), Glenn Gathman (Deanna), and Barbara Lynn (Tim). 

Henry was many things: a lover of golf, the Trailblazers, Mariners, and Seahawks; a world traveler who interviewed Jordanian and Israeli soldiers on opposite ends of the Allenby Bridge in 1968, and loved ancestor hunting in England and Scotland; a colleague and mentor of countless pastors throughout the country; and a much loved pastor to hundreds of parishioners. He will be sorely missed. 

      Trinity United Methodist Church; 237 N. Water Ave. Idaho Falls, ID 83402                   208-522-7921        TrinityUMCIdahoFalls@gmail.com