Connie Haugarth

Constance Lucille Olson Haugarth, 86, retired teacher, died Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003.

Memorial service: 7 p.m. Friday at Ovilla United Methodist Church, 1403 Red Oak Creek Road, Ovilla. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at David Clayton & Sons Funeral Home, 200 W. Center, Duncanville with family; open visitation 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.

Connie Haugarth, longtime educator, loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, gifted cook and gardener, was born April 15, 1917, in Underwood, Minn., to Conrad and Camilla Skalman. Her father died in a flu epidemic when she was 1½ years old. Her mother died four years later. After living with her grandfather, Lars Olson, for a short time, she was adopted by her uncle and aunt, Guy and Emma Olson of Pelican Rapids, Minn. The family moved in 1930 to Fergus Falls, Minn., where they launched Olson Furniture Store and Olson Funeral Home.

After graduation from Fergus Falls High School, Connie attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., where she earned a BA degree in 1939. She began her teaching career at schools in Kerkhoven and Luverne, Minn.

After attending Minnesota School of Business, Connie decided to move to California in 1943. She took a job with Shell Oil Co. in Long Beach, Calif., where she met her husband of 48 years, Walter T. Haugarth. They married April 5, 1944.

Walter and Connie returned to Minnesota, living for brief periods in Evansville and Battle Lake before moving to the Olson family farm in Underwood. Connie had inherited the farm from her grandfather and was always proud of the farm’s plentiful garden, abundant livestock and the house that Walter helped build. Connie taught school in Underwood from 1956 to 1960.

Walter and Connie sold the farm and moved to Texas in 1960. Connie taught for a year at McAllen High School before the family moved to Mission. She taught English, speech, drama and general business in the Mission school district for 21 of her 27 years in education. As the UIL competition coordinator, she was known for award-winning debate and drama teams, as well as having envelopes with lunch money for needy students. She was honored as Mission’s Teacher of the Year in 1979.

After her retirement in 1982, Connie and Walter moved to Haltom City, where they were members of Calvary Lutheran Church. When Walter died at the age of 90 in 1992, Connie moved to Grand Prairie, where she spent her retirement caring for grandchildren and cooking for family. She baked extraordinary bread and was the family’s master of Scandinavian specialties, rumagrot pudding and lefse.

She died peacefully at her home after a lengthy illness.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Robert S. Olson, of Fergus Falls, Minn.

Survivors: Daughters, Marcia Haugarth of Grand Prairie, Sue Fiske of Duncanville and Camilla Hardee and husband, Gary Hardee, of Grand Prairie; stepson, Stan Haugarth and wife, Mary Haugarth, of Hot Springs Village, Ark.; grandchildren, Kelly Pacanins and husband, Louis Pacanins, of Grand Prairie, Steven Bradley Fiske Jr., of Duncanville and Taylor Hardee and Evan Hardee of Grand Prairie; great-grandchild, Lillian Pacanins of Grand Prairie; and stepgrandchildren, Gail Stevenson and family of Huntington and Mark Haugarth and family of Dallas.