David G. "Dave" Haar, 74, passed away at the West River Regional Medical Center in Hettinger, ND on January 1, 2026, with his family at his side.

A Celebration of Life Service will be from 2:00 p.m. Friday, January 9, 2026 at the Centennial Chapel of Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Hettinger, ND.  There will be a social gathering for friends and family at the American Legion Club in Hettinger to follow.

David Gary Haar, beloved father, partner, and friend passed away on Thursday January 1st in Hettinger, North Dakota. Dave was born on July 24, 1951, in Ipswich, SD to Gerhardt and Genevieve (Sahli) Haar. Dave was the oldest of four children, with younger siblings Roger, Susan, and Mary Ann. Dave grew up in Ispwich and attended Catholic school through 8th grade until moving to Ipswich High School for high school. Dave excelled in track, basketball, as the quarterback for football, and was homecoming king his senior year. After graduating high school, Dave went to Mitchell Area Vocational Technical School, graduated from the electrical and maintenance program, and pursued a career as a lineman.

While attending Mitchell Tech, he met Paulette Sweeney, and they were married in Presho, SD in 1972. Also in 1972, Dave was hired with Montana Dakota Utilities and moved to Lemmon, SD.  In 1974, they moved to Hettinger, ND for a job opportunity with MDU. In 1973 their daughter Tara was born, followed by their son Travis, in 1977. Dave and Paulette raised Tara and Travis in Hettinger where he enjoyed being active with their activities, including coaching, and watching them play sports. Dave and Paulette divorced in 1991 and continued to raise the kids together in Hettinger.

Dave volunteered with the Hettinger Fire Department, the park board, and was active with the Hettinger Jaycees. One of major achievements as a Jaycee was building the walking bridge at Mirror Lake with Richard Wyman. Dave was integral in developing and updating the Hettinger Golf Course and spent thousands of hours working on projects. Dave enjoyed playing softball, umped baseball, and reffed basketball, football, and volleyball.

Dave met Linda Schmidt in 1995 and helped raise her daughters, Chelsea and Charity. Dave remained a major part of their lives and always considered them his girls. Around this time, Dave bought into the cabin at Shadehill with his dear friends Lauren Miller and Arden Saunders and loved working on updates, mowing, and hosting friends and family there. Dave later pursued and courted his sweetie, Joan Schmalz, and enjoyed many wonderful years together with her spending time golfing, traveling, and countless hours at the lake on the pontoon and playing dice.

After 36 years, Dave retired from MDU. However, Dave could not stay still for long and took a job working with his friend Barry Melling. Dave greatly enjoyed staying busy and had many side projects including tree trimming, flipping houses, owning and operating the worm farm with Lauren and Arden, and "working for Barry." Dave was an avid sportsman and loved to hunt and fish. Dave was also extremely close with Travis's wife, Christal, and she became another daughter to him. The two of them loved fishing and running the 33 club together.

Dave is survived by the love of his life Joanie, his children Tara, Travis (Christal), Chelsea (Tyler) and Charity (Jamie); sister, Mary Ann Roth of Roscoe, SD and many nieces, nephews and close friends. He was proceeded in death by his parents, Gerhardt and Genevieve, his brother, Roger, and sister, Susan.

Dave will be remembered for his social and friendly spirit, his strong work ethic, animated stories and competitive nature (always had a side bet going). More than anything, he will be remembered for all the love he had for Joanie, his family, and friends.