Stephen Hause, of Saginaw, age 79, died November 25, 2024 at Aleda E. Lutz VAMC in Saginaw MI. He had been ill for several years with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gerig’s Disease).
Stephen was born John Stephen Hause on October 5, 1945 in the original Bixby Hospital in Adrian, MI to John S. and Dorothy E. (Smedley) Hause of Clinton, MI. Along with his siblings, he was raised in Clinton and attended Clinton schools. He graduated from Clinton High School in 1963, then entered Michigan State University, graduating in 1967. After college, he attended Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI and served as gunnery officer on a navy stores ship, USS Denebola, making several deployments from Norfolk, VA, to the Mediterranean Sea.
After returning from service, Stephen settled in the Irish Hills and resided at Sand Lake with his new family, Maggie and Stephanie. He was a member of the Sand Lake Volunteer Fire Department and was employed as a staff writer and editor at The Daily Telegram in Adrian. He commuted to Eastern Michigan University to earn his Masters Degree and retained his military connection as a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve, attending monthly weekend meetings and annual two weeks of active duty for training.
Stephen continued to work in the journalism field for a few years as an Information Officer at the University of Michigan Medical Center, then made a major career change, moving to Saginaw, MI, to take a full-time job as a firefighter on the Saginaw City Fire Department.
While living in Saginaw, he renewed an interest in photography and developed a passion for photographing the Great Lakes freighters frequently seen on the Saginaw River. The freighters and lighthouses had been a lifelong interest of his from early family vacations in northern Michigan. He was a frequent visitor to Sault Ste. Marie, Port Huron and Algonac State Park in Michigan and to the Welland Canal in Canada, where he photographed the ships. He was a long-time member of the Saginaw River Marine Historical Society in Bay City, and often gave photo presentations to that and other boating organizations. He regularly contributed photos and reports to the boatnerd.com website and had several photos published in the annual Know Your Ships publication.
After retiring from the Saginaw Fire Department as a captain in 2004, he took art and photography classes at the Midland Center for the Arts and continued to travel with his camera. He especially enjoyed attending his granddaughters’ sporting events, camping, travel, and attending concerts.
Surviving are his daughter Stephanie (David) Stimpson of Tecumseh MI; granddaughters Tessia, Mia, Lauren and Morgan Stimpson, of Tecumseh; brother Bill of Reno, NV; and sister Jane of Adrian. He was preceded in death by his brother Michael.
Stephen wished to express gratitude to his family and to the staff of CLC at the VA of Saginaw, and to his friend Rick Ciolek, for their kind and dedicated assistance during his illness.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 3:00 pm on Saturday, November 30 2024 at the Tecumseh Chapel of Handler Funeral Homes Visitation will precede the service from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. Inurnment will take place in Riverside Cemetery in Clinton, MI. Memorial contributions may be made to the ALS Association. Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.handlerfuneralhomes.com.