Julius Carroll Haas was born July 17, 1933 in Wardner, Idaho to Robert W and Caroline (Klein) Haas. He was the oldest of four children and the only son. His sisters are Grace, an unnamed baby girl and Rose. The family lived in Idaho during Julius's early years where Julius spent his time roaming the mountains, valleys, and streams of Idaho. He would occasionally share some memories of those days.

Some of the shared early escapades from his childhood that Rosie remembers include an incident when he was about 5 years old. He had to go to the hospital and have his tonsils removed. He was taken to the hospital and dropped off for the procedure. When the surgery was over, he was put on a bus and sent home. He had to walk from where the bus dropped him off to home.

Another time he was wandering the mountains and rolling rocks down the hill. He managed to dislodge a sizable boulder that he watched roll down the mountain, trees shaking with the impact as it rolled and crashed downhill. At the bottom were some old mining shacks. As the boulder made impact with one of the shacks, men came squirting out every opening of a nearby shack. Rosie imagined that the noise of crashing and splintering was quite frightening.

Also shared by Julius were stories that hinted at how he came by some of his many crazy skills, one of which was mining. Normally, we wouldn't think of mining as crazy but a 6-year-old boy helping his dad with a top hammer drill by holding the drill string seems pretty crazy. He helped his dad with this work for approximately 4 years. In addition to the skill of holding the drill string, he also learned about dynamite. One summer he decided he would try his hand at using that knowledge. He took some of his dad's dynamite (which he kept for his job) and set off for the field where there was a large stump. Julius set a charge under the stump and unrolled the fuse, making sure it was plenty long to avoid being blown up. He lit the fuse and walked away, sort of forgetting about it as it was taking a while to burn. Before too long there was a large explosion and a stump flying high into the sky. He was pretty sure he would be in trouble but never heard anything about it until he asked for money to buy fireworks for the 4th of July. His father told him "You had yours".

While Julius' stories didn't include much about school, he did attend Kindergarten for a brief time and then 1st grade in 1939. The school was a frame building in Kingston, Idaho where Julius finished his first 3 years of education.

March 24, 1944 the family moved to his maternal grandparents' (John and Caroline (Riehle) Klein) homestead in Summit Valley, Washington where Julius lived the remainder of his childhood years. Those  years included going to school at the Summit Valley School and later, the Saint Mary's Catholic School in Chewelah, riding the bus with Jeanine (McCombs), and chores, including milking the goat, required to be done before school. Julius also helped his dad work the farm by plowing the field and riding the hay mower. He recalled one night walking to a neighbor's place with his dad for an evening of card games. Walking to and from the neighbor's home, his dad spoke to him in a way that Julius recalls was "like he was a man". That night, his dad also went out into the fields to get the cows; a job Julius usually did. His dad passed out in the field that night. Julius went to the field with a sled to carry his dad home then called the authorities. The day was November 28, 1948 and at the age of 15 Julius took on the responsibility of providing for his mother and sisters, knowing the family could only survive if he went to work, as his mother had always been handicapped and his sisters were too young. Julius never returned to school, choosing to work the farm, hunt to supplement the farm resources and work for other local farms so that the family would have the necessities. His reminiscence of this time acknowledged that maybe things could, or should, have been done better but no one went without food. This went on until the state became aware of the situation. At that time, they placed his two sisters in foster care and his mother in an adult care facility. Julius continued to work the odd jobs (haying and beginning to work in the woods as a logger), keeping him busy most of the time but he found some time to date. He met Helen in 1954 when he went to visit his sister at her foster home. Helen said she was smitten from that first time she met him and they struck up a quick romance. A bit of fear about commitment on Julius's part, along with entering the Army, led to a break in their relationship.

In April of 1954, Julius enlisted in the Army. He got on a train to Fort Ord, California then went on to Fort Leonard Wood, attending Boot Camp and training as a Construction Machine Operator. He went on to Germany, attached to the 93rd Engineering Co (Float Brigade) where he put together pontoon bridges, both footbridges and equipment bridges. He learned a great deal from his 2-year, 4-month experience and took that knowledge (and what he had saved) home with him when he was discharged in May of 1957. When he returned home, he checked in with his family, bought a car, and returned to work in the logging industry.

When work was done, Julius liked to socialize at several local spots, including eating/drinking establishments and grange halls to participate in dances and meet young ladies. At one of these dances, he met Carol Miller. They were married May 28, 1960 in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, and spent the next little while working to build a family, starting with working to earn enough to re-buy the family property. That period was quite an adventure that involved living in trailers/campers in logging camps, even when temperatures were well below zero. After some time, an opportunity arose for Carol to do some custodial work for the Summit Valley School in exchange for living in the adjacent house. That kept them warmer than the trailers but didn't last long. The school needed the house for a new teacher so Julius and Carol had to move. Fortunately, Julius had been able to purchase the family homestead before that time. Unfortunately, the old house had burned and he had to build a new one. That was in progress but not complete when he and Carol had to move in. They did have walls and a ceiling. They did not have doors, windows, or insulation. The frigid temperatures in the area meant that their wood stove had to be kept burning at a high level all winter long. They did eventually get the little house finished to a fairly comfortable level, including electricity and plumbing (but only for a kitchen sink). The next few years passed with plenty of farm work and logging, along with the addition of the first child-Kathleen Mary, in 1963. Rosalie Carol also joined the family making her entrance 16 months later in 1965.

Life continued in this way until 1968. Some changes in life circumstances led the family to the Yakima area, leading them to purchase a small acreage in Naches. Julius continued to work in the timber industry to provide for the family and then worked hard at home to grow hay for a few cows and a horse, help with a garden, and do a little remodeling on the house. While the family lived in this area, Carol met new friends, through Avon sales, which put her in place for missionaries from The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints to meet and teach her about their beliefs. Before too long she decided this was a good path for her to follow and was baptized October 11, 1969. Julius decided to investigate as well. 6 weeks later, on November 29, 1969, he was baptized. After joining the church, both Carol and Julius decided they wanted to go to the temple and be sealed. They, with their two daughters, were sealed on April 29, 1971 in the Idaho Falls Temple. These choices Julius considered to have helped him to be a better person and he would testify of that up to just days before he passed. He was often heard to tell anyone who told him he was a good person without the church or religion that, "that may be true, but I know I am a better person with it".

After the temple sealing, another blessing came to the family. Matthew Julius was born on February 5, 1972. His sisters were quite delighted that their parents had brought them a new playmate. A short time after this, Julius and Carol also welcomed an infant niece into their home to be cared for while her mother was treated for a serious illness.

About this same time, the Stevens County area began to pull at Julius' heartstrings and a new family property was found by Clugston Creek. Though leaving friends in Yakima and Naches area was hard, the family moved to this home in November 1972 and grew to love the new house, the proximity of the creek to play and fish in, trees to climb, and all sorts of farm animals to care for, though the assigned chores were definitely not on the list of things loved. While living at this place, Julius showed a bit of his prankster character when he told Rosie she needed to eat some smart pills. From Kathy's recollection, Rosie ate one and pronounced that they were rabbit poop, not pills to which Julius responded "they are smart pills, you're getting smarter already". Kathy, not the brunt of this prank, was a little amused. Rosie was not. Julius, when not pranking, fishing or working on the farm, continued to work as a logger. He also purchased a Caterpillar, which he used for all sorts of jobs while living in this area. Another favorite activity of Julius' was to use or reuse local resources for farm projects, including cutting poles to build fences and tearing down old buildings to save the lumber and nails. Kathy and Rosie were not pleased with this activity, as it increased their chore list to include pulling nails out of the used boards and peeling the bark off the polls. It did provide many hours of work which probably kept them out of too much mischief. In 1974 Julius' sister Grace passed away, leaving some younger children needing care. A nephew, James Grey, then came to live with the family for several months. Kathy really appreciated this, as that was when she discovered the oldest child at home had the largest amount of chores to do. Cousin James probably was not as appreciative.

In 1975, the Yakima/Naches area began to pull at the family during a visit to friends, so that summer, about July, a home was found and the family moved. This time, there was only a very small property in a residential area but the swimming pool was a delight to the kids. Julius still worked in the logging industry but also had some big responsibilities in the church when he was a traveling high councilman. Given his terror of speaking in public, this was quite a growth experience for him to speak monthly in various places.

In 1976, the family again felt the draw of Stevens County. This time a home was found in the Arden area on a 1-acre lot. Julius was still logging at this time, but, as always, had projects going on at home. There was a barn that needed building so that we could have chickens and a cow for milking (the fresh milk was lovely but you would have to ask Carol if she enjoyed the milking part), poles that needed cutting and peeling to build a fence, gardens to be started (even expanding to the neighbors unused backyards) and wood to be brought in for the fireplace. Rosie, Kathy, and Matt (though not until he was older) all got to participate in those projects. Kathy, an unskilled construction apprentice managed to be in just the wrong place and had a frame wall for the barn fall across her back while helping her dad build the structure. Rosie and Kathy spent many a summer day peeling poles with a drawknife so Julius could build fences with them and all 3 children got to split, stack, and carry wood for the fire. In the late 1970's Julius decided that logging was perhaps not the best choice as he aged, so he went to work for Alcoa. Rosie noted that even with this change of employment, Julius never left the woods. He shared many stories of helping out in the timber industry with former employers. Usually, that happened on his days off, but in one instance he would work at Alcoa and then go help the friend with his log truck, getting little to no sleep for a week. While at this home, the family had several well-loved pets come through their care. Dad loved the dogs so much that they would sit on his lap during dinner and he would alternate bites for himself and the dog.

In 1984, fter several years living in Arden, the desire for a bigger property brought the family (Kathy and Rosie had married and moved by this time) up the Orin-Rice road to a beautiful 100-plus acre property with a barn, fruit trees, and large fields for hay and pasture, along with some timber land. Julius again had many projects to take on. He fixed the water pressure by replacing the water line from the well to the house (the pipes were so corroded that only a trickle of water was getting through), replacing rotting foundation poles on the barn by jacking them up and pouring concrete foundations underneath and hauling in hay from the fields. This property remains the family home to the present day.

It was during the years that Julius and Carol lived on the Orin-Rice property that Rosie, Kathy and then Matthew began bringing their children to visit, and even lived in the area. The grandchildren got to spend a good bit of time exploring the farm and local adventure places with their grandpa or both grandparents. On one adventure, Erik walked on an underground hornet nest. Julius was quite allergic to hornets so he stood a little way off and directed Erik how to get away from the stinging. Many other adventures involved fishing, huckleberry or wild strawberry picking as these were some things Julius was passionate about. The grandchildren have memories of this to carry with them forever.

The Holland grand-boys have spoken fondly of their adventures with Grandpa, including camping in the mountains and then picking berries, night fishing at Loon and Deer Lakes, trips to Neah Bay for fishing, fishing in Lake Roosevelt (one time getting stuck on a sand bar with their grandpa-who never learned how to swim-getting out to push the boat off the bar) and many others. Stephanie and Caleb didn't get as much time with Grandpa because of a move to the coast but they did get to join in on a few fishing or huckleberry trips.

The Carnline grand-children enjoyed many similar adventures. Jennifer remembers a particular trip to the coast with Grandpa in her early teen years. The two of them went fishing in a small inlet from the Sound. The water was just short of her knees in depth. At one point, she looked up and saw what appeared to be a torpedo in the water. It was huge and coming straight for her! All she could think about in that moment was the scene from Princess Bride when the shrieking eel was racing through the water towards the princess. Soon Grandpa's voice broke through her thoughts as he yelled, "cast at it'! She thought she probably looked ridiculous, frantically trying to cast towards this monster of a fish, hands shaking. The fish finally veered away from Jen and into a small creek, Grandpa charging like a bull after it. Then this man, who was already so big in her eyes, thrust his hands into the water and caught that fish! She watched him lift what looked like a 3-foot-long fish right out of the water with his bare hands! She had never seen a fish that big. Grandpa and Jen laughed over that story many times since then. The experience, as well as the conversations about it, are among her favorite memories with Grandpa. Kayla's memories include night fishing trips to Loon Lake (where she was so thankful that the bait was corn instead of worms), falling asleep on the bow of the boat on top of the life jackets, and driving home with the windows down to stay awake. She also remembers summers bucking bales in the fields to stack in the barn, trying her darndest to get those heavy bails up to Grandpa, who was attacking them on the trailer.

The Haas grandchildren spent several summers visiting both grandparents on the farm, exploring the fields and trees.

In 1996 Carol and Julius divorced and divided the property. Both of them remained amicable after the divorce which enabled the family to share many wonderful gatherings with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

After the divorce, Julius built a house on his portion of the property, using lumber that he sawed on his sawmill, (which he used masterfully). The house was completed and he moved into it in November of 2000. He eventually added a shop and mill yard, where he spent many years sawing lumber. This "hobby" of Julius' provided lumber and firewood for many in this local area, including family and members of the congregation. It seems you can never stop sawing logs after you have started. Perhaps the sawdust gets in your blood!

In the first years of living in the house, Julius recognized it was pretty lonely being in a house all by himself and invited the Alderson family to stay with him while Dan attended school. Though not related by blood, they had already become part of our family and this living arrangement cemented that family connection. 3 small children loved Grandpa Juli with all their hearts. He loved to tell about how the little girls would come looking to share food with him. It would be far past their bedtime, but when they heard him come in, they knew food was around the corner. They would creep down to where he was eating and sneak up behind his chair with a tale of woe about how they were so hungry and hadn't had dinner.

When the Aldersons moved, Julius missed them terribly but that emptiness was soon alleviated when Heavenly Father showed him another window opening. The young woman he had dated more than 50 years before, had recently become a widow, just weeks short of her 50th wedding anniversary. Julius saw the obituary and sent a sympathy card. Helen responded. Julius wrote again, and Helen again responded. They decided to meet and reminisce about days gone by. One meeting led to another and another and another until on October 8, 2005, Julius and Helen (Danquist) Dieziger were married. After their marriage, Helen moved up on the hill with Julius, but retained her home in Post Falls and her family property in Bonners Ferry. Helen loved that property in Bonners Ferry. She and her late husband (Ralph Deiziger) had hoped to develop the property in their retirement years, but that was not to be. However, Julius' love of everything outdoors and working with equipment, soon saw this dream return to life. Though their later years had them slowing and less able to make frequent trips to the property, the two of them had deeply strengthened their bond in the time they could spend on this property. In addition to their work together on the Bonners property, Helen and Julius enjoyed many trips to visit childhood areas, past homes, friends who became mutual friends, and many family gatherings. Helen's family became Julius's family and vice versa.

While Julius did many things with Helen from 2005 until her passing on May 4, 2023, he also found the time to continue his own passions. His firewood gathering and delivery helped many (local families, elderly or widowed people, Helen's home in Post Falls, and his little sister Rose). His fishing never ended (he met new fishing buddies everywhere he went). He served as a missionary at the Bishops' storehouse for more than 3 years, and continued milling lumber on his sawmill (he cut well over 1 million board feet before he sold the mill in November of 2022, and that all started after he was 65).

When Helen passed, Julius didn't let grieving keep him from enjoying his favorite activities. Fishing continued, he picked many huckleberries and stayed in touch with Helen's children and his friends. If he was sitting on the couch for an extended period, he would pick up the phone and call a friend. Even after his cancer diagnosis, Julius continued to try to do things, keeping the wood box full, raking cones and needles out of the yard, and going shopping. It frustrated him a good bit that "he couldn't do anything" but it was really a very short time that he didn't get outside to do the things that he most enjoyed. When his strength was finally limited enough that outside wasn't a good option, he started putting dishes away and making himself sandwiches and other food. He didn't want to be a burden on Kathy, who came to stay with him right before his cancer diagnosis.

For Kathy, that 3 months with her dad was quite a blessing. Both she and her dad were so grateful for family and friends who offered help, shared gratitude for the many things Julius did, and visited him. Julius, while gifted in so many ways, never had great self-esteem. All those visits and shared stories about how he gifted huckleberries and wild strawberry jam, brought loads of firewood, and helped to split it for busy families, becoming a real-life Paul Bunyon to some, brought tears to him as he recognized how many lives he had touched and the good he had accomplished.

On April 24th, Julius' son Matt arrived from Kuwait to visit and help care for him in his final days. That was quite a blessing for everyone. Just a few hours after all his family members had come to visit, Julius peacefully passed on April 29, 2024. Though he will be missed by all who knew him, he was so ready to move to his immortal rest and greet the family members who had gone before him. If there was anything he would want others to know or do, it would be to find joy in using their talents to serve others.