Donald Steven Hauck, a man of faith, left this earthly life on April 24, 2021 in the faithful arms of his Heavenly Father, wrapped in the love of his adoring children, and cherished by his many, many friends.
Don was born in Medina, Ohio on November 25, 1934 to Arthur and Lucille Hauck. He grew up in the tiny town of Valley City and worked from an early age at the Hauck family-owned Soda Grill. After his parents divorced, he lived with his grandmother, father and beloved older brother Bill. He contracted polio at age 6 and spent seventeen formative weeks in the hospital. His leadership skills were first recognized when he was elected Student Body President of his sixteen-member high school graduating class.
The first in his family to attend college, Don matriculated at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he pledged Phi Gamma Delta (PGD) fraternity. After graduating, he travelled across the US for a year in his Volkswagen Beetle representing PGD (also known as “Fiji”) and was offered several fraternity-related positions at major universities. Don had other plans: he had decided to pursue the ministry when he was sixteen years old and had set his sights on attending the prestigious Princeton Theological Seminary. There he fell in love with and married the only woman in the Master of Divinity program, Margery Jane DeFord of Atlanta, Georgia. Their wedding took place on March 15, 1958 in Marge’s home church. The two were happily and devotedly married for 62 years, until Marge’s death in 2019.
Don served as minister to Presbyterian churches in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Pampa, Texas and Richardson, Texas. He loved “bringing in the Kingdom” as a Senior Minister, but ultimately chose to forego the eighty-hour work weeks he required of himself. In 1970 the Hauck family settled in Austin, where Don worked for Presbyterian Ministers Fund, using his spiritual and temporal gifts to advise clergy of all churches on financial matters. Later he served as Development Director for Presbyterian Children’s Home and Services. As an ordained minister, he presided over countless weddings, funerals and worship services, and was a generous and active member of First Presbyterian Church of Austin.
Never idle, Don dedicated his life to helping his community through service and ministry. He gave his time and talents to many causes throughout his life, including the YMCA, Blood Center of Central Texas, Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) and Interfaith Assistance Ministry in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Through First Presbyterian, his spiritual home of more than 50 years, he participated in the Cold Night Shelter program, CROP Hunger Walks, Habitat for Humanity, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, The Walk to Emmaus and countless other endeavors. His last volunteer job was at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, where, at 85, he pushed patients and new mothers in wheelchairs. Don was happiest when he was of service to others.
Don was an exceptional father, providing unwavering support and love to his four children: Steven, Amy, Doug and Sarah. He enjoyed being benign patriarch to an extended family that included Sarah’s and Amy’s spouses, his grandsons James, Sam and Will Seaton, granddaughter Jessica Brody, and countless in-laws, nieces and nephews from both the Hauck and DeFord clans. He participated with his progeny in YMCA sports, Boy Scouts, Indian Guides, Indian Princesses and Little League.
Don made true and lasting friendships wherever he went. He was famous for his empathy and hospitality; holidays always included at least one unattached friend or acquaintance whom Don and Marge had invited to share in the loving home they had created together. For many years they were at the center of an extraordinary group of friends from First Presbyterian who celebrated each other’s birthdays and anniversaries with parties that featured elaborate skits, roasts and practical jokes.
Though not an athlete in his youth (because of his polio), Don later became an avid runner, swimmer and tennis and pickleball player. His passions for energy conservation (“Who the heck left the lights on in here?”) and public transportation (“Take the darn bus! The last thing Austin needs is another car on the road!”) are legendary. He never asked anyone to do anything he wouldn’t be willing to do himself, and left this earth a better place through his love, empathy and example.
A celebration of Don’s life will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Austin in early June. In lieu of flowers, please consider giving a gift in his memory to Presbyterian Children’s Home and Services, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, or to the charity of your choice.
