Tim Hales passed away in his garden on Saturday, Nov. 26, just days after enjoying a final Thanksgiving with his daughter Sadie and her family. He had come back from cancer twice and was living with a large number of ailments in his final years.

Tim was a tall, gentle and gracious man who lived a rich and varied life. He loved to tease and was quick to laugh. He was devoted to his daughters and his grandsons. After the pandemic, living with his daughter Violet, Tim became a fixture around Henderson Center, popping into the hardware store or the pet shop or the bike shop whenever he found an excuse to do so. He had an endless number of projects and hobbies in his final months, and was working on a bonsai tree when he died. He was looking forward to Christmas.

Tim was born and grew up in Redlands, California, among the orange groves. As a young boy he had rheumatic fever and was bed-bound for a full year. He spoke of this time as shaping his character — reading, making “space ships” from boxes and enjoying the newly bought television and the care from his loving mother, Mary Alice Hales. Later in his youth, he learned ballroom dancing and attended regular dances. He played basketball, surfed, ran track and tooled around the Inland Empire on motorcycles with his friends. From the age of 12 he worked in his parents’ furniture store. When he got his driver’s license his father bought him a cherry red MGB, and he loved that car from then on. In recent days he even had a plan to revive the shell and turn it into an electric car.

From Redlands, Tim attended Oregon State and graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was offered a teacher’s assistant position and a scholarship for a master’s degree at MIT, but because of the Vietnam War he instead accepted a job as an engineer for the United States Navy. He was part of a team that developed a fluid to make submarines move faster through the water, and his name is on a patent for the invention.

At the Navy, he met Madeleine Claire Shepard, the love of his life. They were soon married and had their first child, Jennifer Robin Hales. Looking to escape Southern California, they renovated an old delivery van — “The Silver Bullet” — and took it across the country for a year, looking for property to buy. After their journeys, and following a lead from one of their Navy friends, Eric Swanson, they brought their dear friends Cynthia DeWolf and James DeWolf and their children Nicky and Heather to Branscomb, a rural community between Laytonville and the coast. They bought 40 acres, and the two families camped while they built their houses.

Tim and Madeleine had two more daughters, Violet Pearl Hales and Sadie Willow Hales. The children grew up in the cabin that Tim built there, with lofts for bedrooms and a growing redwood forest around them, in the mountains near the South Fork of the Eel.

Tim took various jobs working as a mechanical engineer for small companies around northern Mendocino County. He also split and sold shingles, worked carpentry jobs and did a stint on green chain at Branscomb’s Harwood Mill. It being the 1970s, Tim was part of the original “mom and pop” cannabis movement. Tim always claimed that he was part of the first crew of people who ever thought to name a cannabis strain “Kush.”

Tim enjoyed playing the soprano recorder and jamming with his wife and friends, reading and discussing philosophy, hiking, and caring for animals. His motto in life was “Never Hurry, Never Worry.” He was a champion for the trees, and encouraged others to stop and watch the redwoods grow.

His last wishes were focused on making others happy. He encouraged his daughters to go after their dreams. He bought a three-wheeled bicycle, adorned it with Christmas lights and made plans to dress as Santa and hand out presents to the neighborhood children. He was raised to give and show care for others. He carried this throughout his life to his last days.

Tim was preceded in death by his father, Lawrence Hales, his mother, Mary Alice Hales, his brother, Craig Hales, and his wife, Madeleine Hales.

He is survived by his daughters and their families: Jennifer Hales and her spouse Hank Sims, and their sons Maxwell Sims and Levi Sims; Violet Hales and her spouse Maral Attallah, and their son Kaijah Ramus-Hales; and Sadie Hales and her spouse Trevor Guthrie, and their sons Sylvester Hales and Milo Hales. He is also survived by his sisters: Margaret Threadgill and her spouse Jim Threadgill of Carlsbad, Calif., and their children Natalie, Tim and Elizabeth; and Laura Entzminger and her spouse Rich Entzminger of Redlands.

The family would like to thank all the doctors and nurses who worked with Tim over the last few years, giving us the gift of more time with him.

There will be a celebration of Tim’s life at the Branscomb property in the summer. He will be laid to rest there in early January.

###

The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Tim Hales’ loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.