Eric John Charles Haight

September 23, 1937 ~ February 4, 2022
Eric John Charles Haight was born in Seattle, Sept.23, 1937, and raised in Camas, WA, by wonderful adoptive parents, Reg and Clita Haight, on their 40 acre farm “Panavista” atop Prune Hill. Eric started farm work young, as most kids did during the depression, developing a love of farming and soil stewardship that lasted his whole life – from extensive 4-H involvement during his school years, to cutting/baling 100’s of acres of hay for himself and neighbors within a 10 mile radius to his 160 acre farm east of Washougal in the 70’s, to a 40 horse dude ranch in the 80’s, to offering free homegrown produce on a table at the end of the driveway in 2021.
At Camas High School, he played trumpet in the band and got to first chair. He often spoke fondly of his pep and marching band memories, traveling around Oregon and Washington. Eric studied at Oregon State College for 2 years and pledged the Acacia fraternity which he very much enjoyed, before transferring to Washington State College where he earned his diploma in agronomy. While at WSC he joined the ROTC, enlisting in the Air Force Reserves upon graduation. During his senior year he and Betty Ingersoll, who was also a student there as well as a Camas High graduate, were married and after graduation, purchased the farm and had 3 children.
In addition to farming, Eric started working at the Washougal bus garage as a mechanic right out of college, later transferring to the Skamania district as a mechanic/driver where he worked for many years, and finally to the Mt. Pleasant district – he really enjoyed getting to know all the kids over the years. He was a prankster throughout life, with one of the many stories being that one year on the last day of school he heard through the grapevine that some of the older kids were planning to play a joke on him. After the older kids had gotten on at Stevenson high school, he drove across the parking lot and very slowly past the groundskeeper who had conveniently hooked up a hose to the fire hydrant and turned it on quarter-throttle. Of course all the windows on that side of the bus were open and by the time the bus had completely passed the groundskeeper, the kids had forgotten about the joke they had planned.
Eric loved the Ptarmigan Mountain Climbing Club out of Vancouver and climbed many of the mountains in the Pacific Northwest multiple times. He also loved a stop at the morning coffee shop to swap tall stories with his many buddies – the shops (but not the buddies) came and went over the years, Neders, Roxys, Jo’s—but something magical happened at the last one–he met the second love of his life, Millie Curtis. They were married in 1990.
Another magical thing happened for Eric when his birth mother made contact with him at age 90. They ended up having 10 wonderful years together.
Eric passed unexpectedly on Feb. 4, 2022. He was preceded in death by his parents, Reginald and Clita Haight; his birth mother, Edith Newquist; his sister, Margaret; and his wife Millie. He is survived by his three children, Norm (Mary Todd) Haight, Daniel Haight, and Leanne Marie Haight; and two grandchildren, Mara and Ethan Haight,
A memorial service will be held on March 12, 2022, at 1 p.m.
Donations in his name may be made to the non-profit Musicians of Stevenson and Skamania County (MOSS), earmarked for the Stevenson Community Garden.