Walter George Hasiuk (George)
April 30, 1941 – March 10, 2024

It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my father Walter “George” Hasiuk on March 10, 2024 in Eureka.

My father was born in 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to mother Emilie Sarah Craig and father Walter Hasiuk. Most of my father’s childhood was spent in New Jersey and he graduated from Audubon High School in 1958. After high school, he served in the Army from 1964-1967 stateside. After briefly coming home, he moved to Florida where he met and married my mother Jackie Wales.

They picked out Eureka on a map, and in 1970, with my mother in her final term of pregnancy, and made the drive across country. My father claims that they took one whiff of the pulp mills and decided to try Ukiah, but the car broke down at Fernbridge and “the rest is history.” (My mother tells the story differently.)

They set up house, and I was born shortly after. He joined the local Laborers Union and his first job was on the new Samoa Bridge. Most morning, he could be found at the local union hall playing Tonk with his fellow laborers while they waited for work. He remained a laborer until his retirement in 2003.

They divorced around 1975 and my father eventually moved to Fields Landing, where he rented out the house and lived in the garage while saving up money. Several years later, he bought a condemned house in Manila, which he renovated and lived in until his death. It was his sanctuary, and he spent hours sitting in a rocking chair in the back yard working on wood sculptures and watching the birds.

My father had many hobbies including wood sculpting (which he emphatically differentiates from wood “carving”), collecting anything and everything that could possibly be useful, hunting, archery, motorcycles, boats, photography, and attending yard sales always looking for great finds. If you needed a tool, he probably had 20 of them, and was happy to share. He was also an avid agate-hunter and went to the beach daily in his quest for agates, rocks, and interesting driftwood to use as a basis for his sculptures. He went so often, that he was adopted by a family of ravens who would follow him along the beach as he fed them dog kibble. They knew the sound of his truck and would come to his parking spot when he arrived. This continued for over two decades. He said he was often photographed as he and his entourage trailed down the beach.

He is survived by his daughter Michelle Hasiuk, granddaughter Sarah Hasiuk, niece Erica Miller, as well as his biological son Steve and his children Scott and Stephanie. Sadly, his only brother Robert passed exactly two weeks after his death.

My father is greatly missed by family, friends, and neighbors.

Per his request, he was cremated, and no service will be held. If you would like to remember my father, please make a donation to a local animal rescue group in his honor as he adored animals, especially dogs (whom he preferred to people.) His dying wish was to have his ashes buried along with the ashes of his mother and my chihuahua Joey with whom he shared a special bond.