Elmer K. Haney

Elmer K. Haney passed away peacefully May 11, 2005.
Elmer was born to Walter H. Haney and Ora Evelyn Pugsley Haney on a cold, snowy morning at Elkhart, Kan., on Nov. 9, 1923. In 1924, the family moved to Sublette, Kan., to help Walter's elderly parents with the farming of wheat and maize. Elmer's brother, Clayton and his sister, Thelma, were born in the farm house there. Elmer and his brother, Clayton, attended the rural school until the Depression and Dust Bowl in the early '30s made it impossible to continue farming. The family moved to San Bernardino, Calif., in 1937. On April 20, 1942, a baby brother, Warren Pearson, joined the family. Elmer loved to rock and help care for the new baby.
Elmer graduated from San Bernardino Senior High School in 1942. He went to work as an apprentice pipe fitter and sheet metal worker on steam locomotives for the Acheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. In February 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force. He was a bombsight mechanic on B-24s and B-25s. He was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. Elmer was honorably discharged on Feb. 23, 1946.
He married Lois Barfell in 1952. They were foster parents to 112 children over the years. In 1965, they moved to Oregon. They adopted three children, Twila, Jeffrey and Kevin. Elmer worked as a maintenance mechanic for several sawmills. He and his wife later divorced. He worked at Riddle Veneer in Riddle, Ore., until August 1969. He then moved to Billings and became a water plant operator for the city.
Elmer was preceded in death by his parents, brother, Clayton, his sister, Thelma Gruel and great-nephew, Byron Gruel.
Left to honor his memory are his brother, Warren (Karen) Pearson; nephews, Ronald (Peggy), Rick (Elaine), Andy (Brenda) Gruel, Justin and Ean Pearson; nieces, Sandy Dorsett, Carol Anderson and Shanda Ellingwood; great-nieces and nephews, Jeff (Wendy) Gruel, Ronda (Rob) Hott, Kristen Gruel, Albert and Scott Dorsett, Charles (Sara) and Devon Gruel, Erik and Kelsey Anderson, Matthew R. Ellingwood, Wendy Lind and Scott McDonald; and many friends.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Monday, May 16, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary, with interment at Mountview Cemetery.
Friends may make memorials to the American Diabetes Association.