Barbara Jean Haagenson
(In her own words)
Barbara Jean (Belken) Haagenson, daughter of Charles Dewey and Geneva Merenda (Wood) Belken, was born February 19, 1948, in Spirit Lake, Iowa. She attended grade school in Spirit Lake, IA, and high school in Milford, Iowa. After graduating, she attended Larson’s School of Cosmetology in Spencer, Iowa. Barbara then moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where she worked at the Omaha National Bank for several years before moving to Denver, Colorado, and working at Mercy Hospital. Eventually she returned to the Lakes Area where most of her family was, and worked as a cosmetologist, secretary, laborer, office administrator, and lead person for Echo Plus Supported Community Living.
Barbara would like to be remembered for her effort to do the right things and her sense of humor. She tried to help people out, especially people who were less fortunate. A plain and simple person loving God’s greatest creation: mankind. She enjoyed her gardens, knitting and crocheting, quilting, working on her genealogy and cooking. She would try new recipes, and if they turned out, she loved to share them with friends and neighbors.
Barbara passed away from COPD on May 18, 2025. She had made her home in Alabama in 2017 and loved it there! People were so friendly and the weather was great. Barbara was baptized at Center Point Fellowship Church in Wetumpka, Alabama, in 2018. She felt she was always a Christian but did not have records of ever being baptized. She loved the Lord, and as she grew older, she enjoyed learning more about the Bible and God.
She was preceded in death by her parents (Dewey and Geneva Belken); her husbands, Mike Burns and David Haagenson; four brothers, Donnie (infant), Lyle (infant), Duane Belken, and Dale Belken; four sisters, Carol (infant), Darlene Reeves, Sevilla Tvedte, Charilyn Dare; two sisters-in-law, Charlene Belken & Eula (Utley) Belken of Spencer, Iowa; four brothers-in-law, Bob Smith, Charles Reeves, Don Dare and Craig Tvedte. Barb wanted to note what a big help her nephew, Robert Tvedte, was to her before he passed away in 2024.
Barbara is survived by her biological daughter, Julie Ann (Cashell) (Decker) Combs and family (Kaylee (Decker) Cozadd, Michael Decker, and Jesse (Combs) Hagy); stepdaughters, Chrissy Haagenson of Hawaii, Jeanine Haagenson of Hartley, IA and Julie Jean Haagenson; one sister, Betty Smith of Milford, IA; and many, many nieces, nephews and their families. A favorite quote of Barb’s was, “Lord, let them see You in me.”
