Josh Haglund

To Maxine, Jack, Barb, John, Jimmy and your families,



I am so sorry to learn of Josh's death. From all accounts, he grew up to be an amazing young man who lived his life with enthusiasm, courage and adventure. He clearly touched many people around the world.



My heart goes out to you all, as you grieve his passing from this life. You are in my thoughts and prayers.



As for Josh, I know he has embarked on his next and greatest adventure of all.



with love,

I had the honor and privilege of knowing Josh since the seventh grade. We always had a class together in junior high and high school and would joke with each other that we were following each other around. Our bumping into each other did not end there we ended up at Mankato State together for a year, and as he was attending the U of M, I was at Augsburg.

I have so many treasured memories with Josh. We shared so many laughs and great conversations about almost any topic under the sun. I will always remember Josh's sarcastic and witty humor. He would get me laughing every time I was with him. Unfortunately I had not seen Josh in quite some time. It was difficult staying in touch when I lived out of state and with all of his travels. We did manage to stay in touch through e-mail, so I was always aware of what Josh was up to.

When I heard the news of his death and how tragic and unjust it was I was truly shaken. I had the greatest respect for him as a person. Josh always did whatever he wanted to do, and always stood for what was just and right. I want to express my very sincerest sympathy to his family. I truly believe that Josh left the world a better place, and I will dearly miss my good friend!

My deepest condolences to family and friends.



May his soul rest and his spirit soar.

Thoughts and memories of Josh have been running through my mind since hearing of his death. There are two that are most persistent, and I would like to share these. I hope that my sharing these memories will bring back happy ones for those of you who read this.



I taught with Josh at University of Toronto. I shared a filing cabinet with him in those close quarters and saw a lot of him as we prepared lessons and shared ideas. I knew it would be a great day when I arrived at the office, and Josh was wearing his short pants. (Remember those? They weren’t shorts, and yet they weren’t pants?) It was a good excuse to break into Avril Lavigne’s Sk8ter Boy song, or ask him where he parked his skateboard. He never failed to smile at my lame joke. Not only that but he usually had a wisecrack in return. Our teasing and joking always started my day off well. How can a workday go poorly if you start it with a laugh and a smile?



My other vivid memory was off standing in the kitchen at one of my parties discussing the negotiations people undertake when trying to get along with the ones we love. My boyfriend had just moved in with me and wanted…..closet space!! I had a lively conversation with Josh about how much is too much to compromise, who should cook and who should clean, exactly how much dishwashing should equal how much cooking, and whether defrosting a lasagne is equal to cooking manicotti from scratch (my most recent experience). We laughed over the compromises and discussions that are necessary to maintain a “healthy” relationship. His insights stay with even now.



I will miss his laugh and smile. I am pleased to have been a small part of his life and to have had him be a part of mine.



My condolences go out to you, his friends and family.

I am so sorry about Josh. We took a class and taught together at U of T, and he was an incredibly warm and gifted teacher. We all feel his loss.

Remembering you as one of the younger ones in the neighborhood is easy, you will always have a special place in my heart. Your smile, the innocent sparkle in your eye. You were a pleasure to know. You grew into a fine young man and touched many more lives. One memory comes to mind, when our families were traveling out west together, we stopped to prepare lunch," kind of out in no-where land", when we were ready to eat, no kids, just lots of footprints heading to the foothills of a far off mountain. I am sure that your innocent smile helped out a little that time! They were great times.! I know that smile is still on your face as you climb this great mountain and begin a new adventure filled with peace and love for all. Your have made your parents proud and will be missed by so many of us.

I only knew Josh for a short time, but I will remember him for a very long time. It is only a few weeks ago tht I last saw him; he was so full of life and plans for the future. It is almost impossible to believe that he is gone. My sincere condolences to Josh's family and friends.

I had the blessing of knowing and becoming one of Josh's friends 10 years ago at Chili's. He was so special to me. Josh always made time to "catch up" with me and I delight in my many memories of time spent together.

Josh always sent post cards of his travel adventures. He gave me little gifts and shared photo's of all the places he had been.

I loved our time together "catching Up." Josh was one of the rare friends you find in life cheering you on! We would always laugh and laugh when we got together.

The things I remember the most are visiting Josh in LA while I was on my honeymoon. He gave us a great tour and we begged him to take us to Oj's house and begged him more to take our picture, he did it, and laughed hard and said "you guys are crazy." I'll remember our night last September sitting by a camp fire talking about life. I remember our early times together at Chili's. Josh would bike to work in the rain. Come in soaking wet and say "it was a nice ride" (seriously)

I remember the time a squirrl got into his car and was sitting on his head rest eating his leftovers from a box. We laughed so hard! I'll remember our last time together in March. We had lunch at Chili's. Josh gave me a little wooden angel. We caught up on our lives. I got to share the news of the birth of our third son with Josh. He was excited for me. Josh I will miss so many things about you. I am a better person for having you in my life and the world was a better place because of you! You will be greatly missed.

I am praying for your family and friends. Jenny

Sorry for the loss of Josh.

Your are in My thought's & prayers.

GOD Bless all of your family.

Jim & Betty Saumer

& Family

my thoughts and prayers are with joshes family at this time. i am sorry to hear of this tragic news.

I had the great privilege to know Josh and share stories and experiences about travel, cultures, and our common global wanderlust. Josh could have stayed in "comfy," safe Minnesota, but instead followed his heart and spirit to new lands, cultures, and experiences. Josh was truly an ambassador representing the best of what we have to offer the world, which in this day and age, is needed more than ever. Thanks, Josh, for all the good you brought to us and our world neighbors.

Josh, your grace, compassion and wonderful wit and sense of humour will be truly missed.

My sincere condolences to all of Josh's family and dear friends,



Laura Lush

(a former colleage at The School of Continuing Studies, Toronto)

I had the great opportunity to meet Josh a year ago during his stay in Toronto. He was one of the kindest and sweetest men I've ever met and I cherish every second I was fortunate enough to have spent in his company. Josh really touched my life and changed my outlook on the world.



My deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Josh, you will be greatly missed and things will never be the same without you.

Love, Pas

On May 17th, the world lost one of its great citizens. Joshua had such a positive effect on people, just by being his kind, good, generous self. My heart goes out to his family. By having the zest for life that he had, and always carrying on with a smile, and sensitivity towards our fellow men, we all ensure that he lives on forever.

Till we meet again, my dear friend.

Love, Billy.

I have met Josh a couple times thru my good friend Sayompol (Sam). I don't really know anything about him except being one of Sam's best friend. My deepest sympathy to all his family and all his friends. We have to remember that eventhough Josh is dead, it's only his body that will be gone but his spirit stays and watch on every one of us....

When I think of Josh, my memories of him and Nancy revolve around my kitchen. Especially, the time they were trying to figure out what to do with artichokes. Watching the two of them eating them was a riot. Also, the time Josh and Nancy made a video as a teaching aid for his trip to Japan, depicting a "typical" American home. He starts the video in my kitchen, goes to my oven and opens the door. In the background, I screamed, "close the door my oven is filthy!" Josh, thought the remark was so funny that he left it in the video. He was a great and wonderful friend to Nancy for that I am so grateful. Rest in peace, Josh. Love, Betty Straube

Joshua was such a dear friend. I am blessed with so many memories of us together. The influence he had on my life has made me a better person. Josh- I will always keep you close in my heart and share my life with you. love, nancy.

I was deeply saddened last week when I heard Josh's name on the news, along with the news of his death. I went to high school with Josh and was friends with him there. Like it so often does, our friendship ended when high school did. I haven't heard his name in years, and I'm so sorry that I had to remember him again this way.



There are no words that will express what a black cloud this has put on my past week. I am so sorry for his family and friends. I know that the days of everyone that knew him will be a bit dimmer now.



I do need to share with you the Josh that I knew. I can sum it up quickly. We had many classes together, but the one I remember most was (micro)computers. Keep in mind that, at the time, computers really weren't so common. Well, Josh caught on quickly and I didn't. I spent lots of time chatting with another friend and then would panic when we were to have a test. I would ask Josh to teach me everything we had learned in the past two weeks during class the day before the test. He always laughed, gave me the "you've got to be kidding me" look and then proceeded to teach me everything until I understood it. Somehow, I remember getting a B. If I came to class in a bad mood, within a couple of minutes of talking to Josh, I felt great. He had a special way about him. I knew it in high school, and I'm sure it never changed.



Josh was one of the good guys. He touched me enough 15 years ago that today my heart aches with his passing. My only regret is that we never kept in touch.



With a heavy heart,