Beautician kept her clients in style
4/26/2004MONTPELIER, Ohio - L. Louise Haines, who ran a beauty shop here for more than 50 years, died Saturday of complications from a heart attack at Community Hospital of Williams County, Bryan. She was 86.
Mrs. Haines was born in Illinois and moved to a farm in rural Montpelier as a small child. She remained on the farm for the rest of her life, running it with her husband for many years.
She graduated in 1937 from Montpelier High School and received a degree from the Warner Beauty School in Toledo. In 1939, she married W. Lester Haines and opened a beauty shop in their home.
Mrs. Haines did hairstyling for adults and children in her shop for more than 50 years. She kept up with the styles of the times, adding a bluish tint to women's gray hair when the dye was fashionable. "It softened the color of gray hair," her daughter, Lilly Skiles, said.
Mrs. Haines loved serving friends and neighbors and often used her talents to help people in the community. She cut the hair of homebound women for a nominal charge and volunteered as a beautician at nearby Evergreen Nursing Home.
She also volunteered for more than 40 years as an election board precinct worker and for 35 years at American Red Cross blood drives. She was a Gray Lady for many years, taking snacks to local hospital patients.
Family was very important to Mrs. Haines. About 20 years ago, she and her husband began hosting reunions for relatives from all over Ohio. The annual parties drew dozens of family members each summer.
She belonged to West Bethesda Presbyterian Church and its Comfort Club.
Surviving are her husband, W. Lester Haines; son, Charles "Corkey" Haines; daughters, Delores Traxler, Patty Hollister, and Lilly Skiles; 16 grandchildren, and 22 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Wilson-Geesey Funeral Home, Montpelier, where the body will be after 2 p.m. tomorrow.
The family suggests tributes to the Williams County Humane Society building fund.