Harry Richard Hauffe, age 83

Harry R. Hauffe

Harry Richard Hauffe, age 83, of Leola passed away Feb. 11, 2016, three days shy of his 84th birthday from natural causes.
Funeral services were held at Shriver Funeral Home on Feb. 20, 2016. Burial followed in the Green Mound Cemetery, with military graveside rites by Roy S. Hisckman American Legion Post #78 of Leola.

Pallbearers were Kevin and Mark Lapka, Kenny Schafer, Colten and Cayl Carpenter, and Hunter Hauffe. Honorary pallbearers were his classmates from Class of 1950.

Harry was born on Valentines Day, Feb. 14, 1932, at the Albert and Alma Hauffe family farm north of Leola. He was baptized and confirmed in St. James Lutheran Church in Leola.
He attended Leola Grade School and Leola High School where he excelled in basketball, football, and baseball. After graduating from High school in 1950, Harry earned a Scholarship to play football and enrolled at the University of South Dakota in Sept. 1950. He played the position of defensive end for the USD Coyotes. In Jan. of 1951, Harry enlisted in the United States Marine Corp during the Korean Conflict. He served with the 1st Division in the Korean War and was honorably discharged on Jan. 18, 1954. Upon returning to South Dakota, he continued his studies at USD and football, and was active in many clubs and organizations at the University. Harry was a standout in football, and was later inducted into the USD Football Hall of Fame. He graduated with a BA in Education.

Harry married his college sweetheart Mary Constance Bergquist of Mitchell, S.D., in 1956. They had three children, Talbot 1959, Michael 1960, and Holliann 1964. After playing some football in the Canadian Football League for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Harry was drafted by Vince Lombardi, coach of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in 1958. The Packer draft class consisted of many Hall of Fame players such as Jim Taylor, Ray Nitske and Jerry Kramer. Harry played for the Green Bay Packers for one season. The average starting professional football player salary back then was $8,000 per year.

Following his brief pro football career, Harry returned to S.D., and taught school and coached at Wall from 1959-1960. In Jan. of 1960, Harry signed a contract with the Denver Broncos. Harry decided to forgo playing anymore football and in June of 1960, Harry went to work on the Titan Missile Sites near Rapid City, as an Ironworker. He subsequently passed his Journeyman Ironworker’s test in Sept. 1960. The Hauffe Family moved to Rapid City and lived there until 1969.

Harry successfully ran for the position of Business Manager for Ironworkers Local 454 of Casper, Wy. His family moved to Casper in 1969. He held that position till 1975. Harry was instrumental in establishing a state-of-the-art training facility at the Local Union facility in Casper. Countless young men and women learned the Ironworker craft through the use of this training facility during their Apprenticeship. One of the first such facilities in the world at the time, that facility is still in use today.

In Dec. 1975 Harry was appointed by then Ironworkers International General President, John H. Lyons, as a Union General Organizer for the Rocky Mountain District Council. He attended and completed labor management courses at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. For the next few years, Harry worked not only in the Rocky Mountain area but at Ironworker Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In 1987, Harry was appointed as Chief Director of Organization for the Ironworkers International and moved to the Washington, D.C. area.

The goals for Harry’s golden years were attained by 1992 when he retired and returned to the family farm in Leola. There he returned to enjoying the pleasures of outdoor life. He truly enjoyed raising a garden, planting sweet corn, hunting, fishing, and playing golf. Although the countryside was still covered with productive crops and livestock, many farmsteads from his youth had vanished. But Harry still found farm folk who loved nature and the joy of tilling God’s earth. They recognized and welcomed him as the goodhearted, generous person that their predecessors had known. Harry kept his Ironworkers Union Membership active until 2015 when he finally decided to become an Honorary Member of the Ironworkers Union.
Harry was preceded in death by his wife, Connie; and by his parents, Albert and Alma Hauffe.

He is survived by his children: Talbot (Laura) of Cheyenne, Wyo., Michael (Richaelle) of Marengo, Ill., and Holliann (Bradley) Carpenter of Casper, Wyo. Grandchildren: Tiffani McCann (Mike), Ciera and Hunter Hauffe of Marengo, Colten (Michelle) Carpenter and Cayl Carpenter of Casper. Sister, Ruth Bonnet of Aberdeen; and brother, Paul (Judy) of Sioux Falls.
Always the sportsman, in lieu of flowers, Harry would appreciate contributions to Ducks Unlimited, or Pheasants Forever, or other similar wildlife conservation organizations.

The Pioneer Review

221 E. Oak Street
Philip, SD 57567
Telephone: (605) 859-2516
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