Gloria Jean Hauge

MADISON - Gloria Jean Hauge, of Madison, passed away on Monday, Oct. 1, 2019, in her home with loved ones nearby, after a short battle with cancer. She was 82 years of age, the daughter of Glenn and Breta Lee (predeceased). She was born on a rural farm in South Leeds, with her grandma, Anna Waldref, attending to her birth. She is survived by her former husband, James Hauge, who she married in 1956. They had seven children; son, Kerry (Michelle) Hauge; daughter, Kim (Tim) Smith; son, Gregory (Evangeline) Hauge; son, Wade (Audrey) Hauge; daughter, Colleen Hauge; daughter, Rhonda Huettl (predeceased); and son, Jason Hauge. She is also survived by sons-in-law, Timothy Pollock and Robert Huettl. Other survivors are her 24 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; sister, Glenda Anderson; sister, Sharon Lingard; sister, Lana (Bob) Nell; brother, Dennis Lee; sister, Betty (Vince) Maly; sister, Barbara Youngs; and many nieces and nephews and a few remaining cousins. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Jacob and Marie Lee and Anna and Vivian Waldref; her parents, Glenn and Breta Lee; sister, Georgia Marie Lee; brother, John (Evelyn) Bell; aunt, Betty Skrenes; nephews, David Bell and Bradley Krause; beloved daughter, Rhonda Huettl; great-nephew, Aaron Anderson; great-niece, Cassandra Anderson; grandson, Colin Smith; granddaughter-in-law, Tiffany Lea Hauge; great-granddaughter, Nora Renee Hauge; and other unnamed grandbabies she will meet in heaven; two close friends, who beat her to the pearly gates, Pinky Frazier and Lois Hansen; and her mentor, Evelyn Garlick, who led her to her Saviour Jesus Christ. Mom was first a daughter and then a sister to her oodles of siblings. It was there she found her profound love of family and wished for her own. That came to fruition when she had four sons and three daughters. They, in turn, produced many descendants, who became her pride and joy. She loved babies and her face would light up every time she saw one even into her last days. Mom graduated from Sun Prairie High School and lived on a farm in Columbus, during her later childhood before she married James Hauge. A true country girl at heart, she raised their children on two different farmsteads for the earliest part of their lives. She loved being a homemaker in her early days, raising their children. She later moved to Madison where she finished rearing her family and remained there until her last days. She became a housekeeper to support her family as a single parent and was quite good at her job. She expected the same of her kids at home. Sometimes, we weren’t always up to par, as she set her standards high. But she knew how to stop and rest to read that bedtime story and pray with us before going to sleep, making each child feel special, even though someone was always fighting for that position. Her friend, Pinky, found a prayer meeting they’d attend together which later formed into the church, Shalom Christian Center, because they outnumbered themselves in attendance. Mom led more and more people to Jesus over the years, including her own family and did this to the end of her life here, fulfilling the great commission in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” We have a special title for her, “The matriarch of our salvation,” for her ripple effect and not just preaching it but living it. Mom was also an ordained pastor for two years in a church that she and Pinky started. Her friend had passed down the torch to her because she had cancer. The loss of her friend had become difficult for her in the last year, so she resigned before finishing out her duties to the church, and instead desired to be surrounded with her family and put her focus there. Mom went to MATC with no degree but returned with a license for family daycare with study in early childhood. She ran a licensed family daycare called Noah’s Arc Family Daycare, with her daughter, Colleen. It was a welcome relief for her as it relieved her of her housekeeping business that gave her a hard life. Her heart was children always and enjoyed these years thoroughly, calling it her favorite job ever. The kids referred to her as Gramma Gloria, but one little boy affectionately referred to her as, “Mother Goose.” Mom also worked various other jobs for short stints before housekeeping, but most memorable was her time at Central Colony working with developmentally disabled children. Her sister, Lana, also worked there during that time and they ride shared, as Mom didn’t drive. Anyone could tell she adored the kids she cared for and saw their value. She resigned when they put her on the third shift and her younger kids missed her too much, hardly able to see her. But with all the accomplishments, she would say they were none of these. She considered her family to be her biggest accomplishment in life and she adored them. We adored her right back. She would say we were angels, but we have stories that could tell you otherwise. We believe that all would agree that Mom was a beautiful woman that could turn heads (after all she has the Lee genes). But we know that Mom, although she had physical beauty, she most would want to be remembered for her inner beauty and her love for Jesus. She taught us kids to value this most in life. Mom was an artist, and to the happiness of many, that she shared her gift of drawings with. She blessed us with homemade cards over the years that we cherish. When she discovered scrapbooking, this became her passion. This also stems from her love of photography. Mom often talked of her little brownie camera that she got her start with. Her siblings tell us they would not have had many of the early family photos they possess if it had not been for her because she was the only one with a camera. For the gift of pictures, she endowed us with, we are grateful. We cannot let it go by without saying that Mom was crazy about flowers. Gardening was also a hobby of hers. Every passing birthday she would ask the same thing: Bring me flowers. Now she is in God’s garden with His beautiful flowers, unlike anything on this earth, with colors never before seen, smiling at her just the way she smiled at us. We will miss her laughter, her sense of humor during dark times, and her ability to make you feel special until we meet again. Mom loved music too and loved to sing. We shall miss that voice for now, but she presently sings with the angels she so adored in the worship of her Father God and Jesus Christ. Rhonda must be so happy that you are with her again, Mom, and the others, too. She had been so worried about you, Mom, before she went home to Jesus. But now you are finally at peace in your eternal rest and rejoined with your family. And our hearts rejoice for you. How good it must have been to hear Jesus say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matthew 25:21 (KJV). A Celebration of Life will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, at 11:30 a.m., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2019, with Pastor Jeff King officiating. Burial will follow the service at Roselawn Memorial Park, 401 Femrite Dr., Monona, with a lunch at the funeral home to follow. A public visitation will be held at the funeral home from 10:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Monday. Online condolences may be made to www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Care 5203 Monona Drive (608) 221-5420