James Hazen

Rev. James H. Hazen left this earthly life on June 26, 2017. He was preceded in death by his wife of 72 years Eileen, infant son James Timothy, his parents (Hervey and Ethel) and three sisters (Virginia, Miriam and Ruth). He is survived by four children: Sheryl (Dale) Fisher of Maple Grove, MN, Judith Nagel of Fort Collins, CO, Sandra (Mark) Pavelchak of Redlands, CA, and Thomas Hazen (Mary Lou Dixon) of Riverside, CA, 10 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.

Jim served as a bomber co-pilot stationed in Italy during World War II. After his discharge from the service, he completed his degree in agriculture at Iowa State University and then assumed management and operation of the Hazen family farm in Iowa, managing 300 acres of crops, an apple orchard, a black walnut orchard, a herd of 50 dairy cattle, plus sheep, hogs, and chickens. Throughout his life he was always interested in the latest information and innovations and while on the farm, he hosted several events for area farmers to introduce them to new products. He was always "tinkering" and bragged (jokingly, we think) that he could create or repair anything with a ball of nylon string and a roll of duct tape. In truth, he was very skilled at any type of repair because of his ability to think "outside the box" when problem-solving.

Jim left the farm to enter seminary in 1955 and until his retirement in 1988, he served as pastor of churches in Missouri, Iowa, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Idaho. Jim enjoyed the challenge of coming to a "dying" church and revitalizing it. Membership in the churches he served always grew during the time he was there. His focus in working with people in his churches was always to help them realize how God was with them and "in them" in their daily lives, not just "out there." He believed his role as pastor was to teach peace, understanding, tolerance and compassion. He loved the challenge of helping people define for themselves what they believed and why. In addition to the many churches he pastored, he helped develop and implement a program to train lay people to perform some pastoral duties. He was the inspiration for several people to go into formal seminary training and he mentored them in their early years of service. In recent years, Jim enjoyed the fellowship of his friends at Plymouth Congregational Church in Fort Collins, CO.

Jim loved gardening and took pride in his vegetable gardens into his 90's. Jim always had a love of nature, the outdoors and the mountains. He spent many happy hours camping and backpacking in the mountains with his children. An avid photographer, he built his own darkroom where he developed the thousands of photos he took of mountain scenery, Eileen's flower gardens, backyard birds, and his friends and family. Jim and Eileen built a retirement cabin in the Sierra Nevada foothills which was a treasured retreat for many years. After relocating to Colorado, Jim and Eileen loved visiting Rocky Mountain National Park.

Jim was the epitome of a lifelong learner. He taught himself to use computers in his 70's and was studying quantum physics in his 80's. He had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and was an avid reader. He could not pass a bookstore without buying multiple copies of books so he would always have one to loan to a friend. He accumulated a library of thousands of books with a variety of topics: religion, philosophy, metaphysics, quantum physics, gardening, health, etc. He loved to discuss "deep" subjects and he loved to laugh. Jim always had a great sense of humor and was known for his ability to tell a great joke. Jim will be remembered as a warm, loving presence by all who knew him.

Per Jim's request, there will be no local service. His request was that you instead visit a friend in need. Memorial donations may be made to Plymouth Congregational Church Homeless Prevention Fund, Fort Collins, CO.