James Iven Haugen

James I. Haugen, age 93, of Litchfield died on January 22, 2020, at the Lakeside Care Center in Dassel. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at Zion Lutheran Church in Litchfield with Military Honors provided by the Litchfield Military Honor Guard. Visitation will be from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM on Monday, January 27th at Johnson-Hagglund Funeral and Cremation Service and 10AM-11AM at Zion Lutheran Church. Interment will be at a later date. James Iven Haugen, the son of Hans and Lillian (Thulin) Haugen, was born at his grandparents’ home in Pinewood, Minnesota on January 12, 1927. He lived northeast of Clearbrook and attended Rydeen School to the 4th grade. His family then moved to Alaska Township in Beltrami County and he attended Northfork School until the eighth grade. Jim worked various jobs until he was drafted and entered the military on March 19, 1945 at Ft. Snelling. He trained at Jefferson Barracks, MO and Camp Livingston, LA. After a short leave at home he was sent to Camp Adair in Oregon and then to Camp Stoneman in California. He boarded the ship General Gordon, the first ship to go to Yokohama, Japan and landed in 1945. He was sent to northern Japan to Hokido Island to the 693 QM trucking company before being shipped to Tokyo to the 1st Cav. Division as a jeep driver. On August 15, 1946, he was discharged from Fort Sheridan, IL. Jim returned to Pinewood and lived. After his dad died in 1947, he moved to Litchfield in September 1948. In August 1968, he was united in marriage to Edith Lanning. He worked for various companies including Case Implement, Thulin Brothers Construction, First District Association, Ideal Lumber, Independent Review, Sparboe and Cenex. Jim and Edith were married for 44 years. He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, the Last Man’s Club and was a past commander of the VFW. He enjoyed playing cards, especially cribbage. Jim loved his family and visiting with friends. Jim is survived by his children Gloria (Jack) Pfeifer of Starbuck, Melodie (Mike) Gaffney of Wisconsin, Jamie (Virgil) Wiechmann of Litchfield, Carla (Dan) Smith of Hutchinson, Jolyn Haugen of Milwaukee, Brent Haugen of Portland and daughter-in-law Dorothy Lanning of Litchfield. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Edith, son Carral “Jr” Lanning, daughter Linda Lanning and brother Arnold “Walt” Haugen.