Howard Eugene Haws
Join us in celebrating Howard—please share your stories and photos, and help spread the word about this page!
Howard Eugene "Gene" Haws, born March 4, 1931, on Sevier Ave. in Knoxville, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 20, 2021, at NHC Healthcare in Farragut. He was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Andra Shelton Haws, and his parents, Henry N. Haws and Ruby Douglas Haws, as well as brothers Henry and Charles Haws.
Gene graduated from Young High School and The University of Tennessee. He then served in the United States Air Force as a fighter pilot before marrying Andra Shelton Haws on October 26, 1956. During his two years of peacetime service, achieving the rank of First Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, he flew the Republic F-84F "Thunderstreak," an early swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber.
After a stint as a commercial airline pilot for TWA, Gene was drawn to the ministry and graduated from the Chandler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. He became a Methodist minister in the Holston Conference, serving churches in Dante and Fountain City. He then became an Episcopal priest after a further year of study at St. Luke's School of Theology at the University of the South. He served several Episcopal churches in West Tennessee before moving to Maryville, Tennessee in 1975, where he served as priest at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church until his retirement in 1996.
Gene was an avid fisherman and spent many days on the lakes in and around Maryville. He was a master in the art of fly fishing for bream and bass, and he was generous in sharing his fishing wisdom with others.
Gene also continued recreational flying into his retirement, enjoying the Piper Cub and other "taildragger" aircraft at the Skyranch Airport in Knoxville.
Gene is survived by his daughter, Lois Ross (John), and their two sons, Will and Hudson; son, Tim (Clara), and their children, Ruby, Tallulah and Lucas; son, John (Susan), and their daughters, Julia and Lucie; granddaughter-in-law Tiffany May Ross, great granddaughter Andra Lou Ross, nieces Terri Gibbs and Janet Mason, and many dear friends. He was well-loved and cared for by the staff on the second floor of NHC, especially by Mary, Tasha and Emily, and other unnamed caregivers who had to act as family during the restrictions imposed by Covid. The family appreciates the care of Caris Hospice staff, as well.
A memorial service and interment of ashes will occur graveside at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 13, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, officiated by The Rev. Canon Chris Hackett of St. John's Cathedral. Family and friends are welcome to attend; please observe mask-wearing and social distancing.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in his memory to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104; The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 669, Knoxville, TN 37901; St. John's Cathedral, P.O. Box 153, Knoxville, TN 37901-0153; or St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 314 West Broadway, Maryville, TN 37801. East Tennessee Mortuary Service is serving the family of Gene Haws.