Keith A. Haats

Keith Allan Haats, 59, of Hawley, MN, passed away peacefully on July 23, 2019, at Essentia Hospital.  The Celebration of Life will be September 7, 2019 at the Hawley community center from 12:00 P.M to 6:00 P.M. It will be a potluck, please bring any dish of your choosing to share.

Keith is survived by his mother, Esther Gregor (LeRoy), of Moorhead; fiancé Elizabeth Gregor, Hawley, MN; children, Christopher Haats (Shaneeza), of Detroit Lakes, James Haats, of Detroit Lakes, Jamie Haats (Nathan), of Plainview, MN, Jason Schmidt (Elizabeth), of Minot, ND; grandchildren, Aiden, Nayomi, Remington, Elianna, Avianna, Alexis, Katlyn, Holly, Stormie, Xavier and Letty; siblings, Rick Haats, of Detroit Lakes, Myron Haats (Shelley), of Thief River Falls, MN, Eugene Spreeman, of Moorhead, Shelly Barsness (Paris), of Colorado, BobbieJo Spreeman, of Moorhead and many nieces and nephews.

Keith was preceded in death by his little brother, Jimmy Haats; dad, George Haats; older brother, Pat Anderson; grandparents Emus and Katherine Haats (John Leland).

Keith was born March 16, 1960 in Moorhead, MN, the son of George Haats and Esther Gregor.  He later relocated to the Cities with his dad and two brothers, Rick and Myron.  Keith met Loni in 1984 and they got married.  He got his GED through Willmar Tech for welding at this time as well.  While married they had two sons together, Jimmy and Chris.  They were married for three years before they decided to end their marriage in 1987.

On August 12, 1988 Keith met Elizabeth in Moorhead at Vic’s Lounge playing bingo.  In August of 1990 they got engaged.  Keith and Liz helped each other raise their four kids, Jayson, Jimmy, Chris and Jamie together.  They did not marry but have been very happy together for 32 years.

Keith enjoyed anything outdoors, fishing with family and friends, riding motorcycle with his son and friends, ice fishing, riding in the boat, spending time with his grandchildren, going on walks with his dog, Shadow (babygirl), working on cars, playing card games or games with family and friends, rooting on the Vikings, listening to music and dancing with his kids and grandchildren, and most of all, always being a comedian and making people laugh and smile.

On October 3, 2017, Keith had a heart attack, and we found out that he had stage 5 kidney failure.  He immediately started dialysis at Davita in Dilworth, MN.  Elizabeth was trained to do his dialysis at home so she could care for him every day.  He was hooked up every day for 9 hours of treatment.

We want to thank Essentia Hospital doctor’s and nurses for all their help in taking such great and amazing care of Keith while he was in the hospital.