Barbara Beatta Hauge

TURNER - Barbara Beatta (Baird) Varner Hauge, 82, died of natural causes Saturday at her home in Turner.
A celebration of her life is 11 a.m. Monday at the American Lutheran Church in Turner, with burial in Turner Cemetery. Edwards Funeral Home of Chinook is in charge of arrangements.
Barbara is survived by sons Dave (Becky Metaggart) Hauge of North Pole, Alaska, Dan (Linda Jo Johansson) Hauge of Nacogdoches, Texas, Dwight (Alice) Hauge of Kremlin and Darel (Linda) Hauge at the Turner farm; foster daughters Maria (Randy) Walker and family of Fort Belknap and Ida (Joe) Purvis and family of Bossier City, La.; granddaughters Stacy Ann (Justin) Ballek and children of Fort Collins, Colo., and Char (Jason) Delaney of Golden, Colo.; grandsons Kaleb, Curtis, and Sean Hauge, all working in the movie industry in Los Angeles, Garrett Hauge of Laramie, Wyo., Adam Hauge of Great Falls and Evan Hauge of MSU-Northern in Havre, sister-in-law Sara Baird of Chinook, and many nieces, nephews and stepgrandchildren
She was preceded in death by husbands Frank Varner and Art Hauge; parents Stanley and Bertha Baird; brothers Allen and Wes Baird; and sister Frances Varner.
Barbara was born Aug. 20, 1925, in Gresham, Ore., to Stanley and Bertha (Crawford) Baird. When she was a year old, the family moved back to the family ranch north of Zurich. "Barbie," as she was known growing up in Zurich with brothers Allan, Wes and sister Frances, was taught by her mother in country school. She attended Chinook Junior High and graduated from Chinook Senior High School in 1942 while working full time as a bookkeeper for Farmers Union Oil.
Barb married Frank Varner at age 18. Frank served with the 96th Infantry Division and was killed on Okinawa Island during the last battle of World War II.
Barb worked for Chinook's U & I Sugar Co., and then for three years as bookkeeper for co-ops in Opheim, Mont. She later became the junior fieldworker for Montana Farmers Union in Great Falls. Barbara also attended Encampment for Citizenship, a training program for Leadership in Democracy in New York City, where she met many famous people. She also wrote for various newspapers and magazines.
Barbara met Art Hauge in the autumn of 1947 and they married Jan. 30, 1948, in Conrad. To this union four sons were born, Dave, Dan, Dwight and Darel, and they raised two foster daughters, Maria Walker and Ida Purvis. They raised their family on the Hauge farm south of Turner.
After 30 years of farming, they retired to Turner, and traveled by RV abroad, seeing much of the world and America. In the summer, they were caretakers at Montana Farmers Union Camp in the Highwood Mountains.
Her favorite pastimes included dancing, music, poetry gatherings and scrapbooks of her and her family's lives, her writings, reading and anything her children and grandchildren were involved with. She also put together six books of the Baird and Hauge family genealogy. Art passed away in November 2005, leaving Barbara without her best friend and the love of her life.
Barbara's Golden Anniversary bookmark read, "Do the best you can for as long as you can and your life will follow God's own plan."
Condolences may be posted online at www.gftribune.com/obituaries.