Joyce Constance (Connie) Haines

Joyce Constance (Connie) Haines September 22, 1931 - February 17, 2025 Connie, beloved wife of Rev. Byron D. Haines, passed away peacefully at home in Oro Valley, AZ at the age of 93. She and By were soulmates and happily married for almost 73 years. She is survived by Byron, her 6 children, John Haines (Linda Anderson-Haines), Mark Haines-Simeon (Rachel Lieder-Simeon), David Haines (Kathy), Paul Haines (Mary), Elizabeth Wick (Todd), and Mary Haines, and nephew, George Wilson (Olivia Stradtner). They will miss her greatly! Connie always encouraged her children and others to get an education, value nature, and to strive to forge a life with meaning and joy. As Grammy, she was thrilled to get pictures and news of her 9 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Sharing stories of them and their latest accomplishments and escapades brought her great joy. During the Depression, Connie was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, to George and Nanny Maude (Conerly) Wilson. Connie proved herself to be a tough cookie early in life. After numerous adventures with her brothers, George and Jack, involving water moccasins and china berry fights and hardships such as the death of her father and a stint in an orphanage, at age 12 she journeyed by train alone to Tucson, AZ to live with relatives. Connie fell in love with the Sonoran Desert. After graduating from Tucson High and secretarial school, she attended the University of AZ where she eventually met Byron. Together they built a new life and family. Connie graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in education and criminology and from the University of Arizona with a master’s in counseling. After more than 3 decades teaching young people and preparing them to meet life’s challenges with joy and hope, she retired from Glendale Elementary School District, Glendale, AZ. Connie was an avid reader, a dog lover, an excellent bread baker, a lover of history, a follower of politics, a gardener, a sewer, and a canner. Her natural animation and curiosity kept conversations with family and friends going well into the night. She spent summers at the family cabin on her beloved Flathead Lake, Montana. Connie enjoyed picnics on the beach, teaching kids to water ski, floating on an inner tube engrossed in a book, visiting Glacier National Park, and generally soaking in the peace and freedom the woods provided. Adventures led Byron and her to Oaxaca, Mexico, through the Panama Canal, to Oberammergau, Germany, Florence, Italy, Japan, the Great Wall of China, and up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Quebec. Connie told her family in her final days that she was proud of them all and of the life she had lived. She encouraged them all not to mourn her but to honor her by living life to the fullest with a sense of celebration! There will be no service. We will celebrate her life and intern her ashes in the future when her family can all be together. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the National Parks Conservation Asso.