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North Brevard Beacon Article August 6 2009

Friends arrange memorial for popular homeless World War II vet

By Susan Walden
He was homeless and didn’t have material things but he was rich with friends and the kindness of strangers.

Theodore “Ted” Haag, 87, was the man many North Brevard residents saw walking up and down U.S. 1 usually between Titusville and Port St. John. Stooped over wearing a beige fishing hat, Haag would traverse the road with hands clasped behind him or carrying plastic bags – staples he bought from area stores. He lived in the woods and didn’t ask anyone for anything but was grateful when people stopped.
Haag passed away June 6 after a bout with cancer and was laid to rest June 16 with military honors at Sarasota National Cemetery.
But this is where the story begins.
Connie Pontius, a Titusville resident, was one of the kind strangers who used to stop and talk to Haag.
“I’d offer him a ride, groceries or money,” said Pontius, who met the World War II vet five years ago. “He was such a nice man. He was proud and he received two checks a month so I didn’t to insult him, I wanted to help him.” But Haag didn’t see it that way. He was happy for the interaction and the hugs.
Pontius didn’t know his last name. She simply knew him as Ted.
Just before Christmas Pontius pulled over and gave Haag a red blanket for Christmas. She invited him for Christmas dinner but Haag politely declined and said he’d already had seven offers.
“He probably didn’t go anywhere,” she said.
There were many people whose lives Haag touched but the one he touched the most was Port St. John resident Mary Moore.
“God put him in my heart for a reason,” she said. “I’d see him and talk to him. He was the cutest thing.”
For about 10 years, Moore interacted with Haag.
“He’d say, ‘I’m not homeless. I have a nice place in the woods.’”
Moore and Pontius said despite his rustic abode, Haag was always clean and smelled nice. “He said he had a barrel that he collected rainwater in,” said Moore.
On Jan. 27, Moore felt like she just had to go to Titusville. She can’t remember why she felt she had to jump in her car and go, but it was a miracle she did, literally.
As she drove north on U.S. 1 she spotted her friend Haag, who right at that moment stumbled and fell. He got up again, fell and tumbled down the steep embankment out of sight from passing cars.
Moore pulled over and ran down to the ditch.
“He was all muddy and bruised, but was conscious,” she said.
Moore put him in the car, gave him water and called 9-1-1.
He wasn’t getting enough oxygen to the brain and that’s why he fell. He stayed at various rehabilitation centers. One day he decided to go home so Haag merely walked out of the facility. He was whisked to Circles of Care and then to Jacaranda Manor Nursing Home in St. Petersburg.
Moore visited him regularly, bringing him treats and giving him hugs.
Haag called her “Mary, Mary quite contrary” like the nursery rhyme.
Moore was the only one who knew where Haag was. He had no living relatives and area residents wondered where Haag went.
He was moved to Largo Medical Center in Largo and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was transferred to The Hospice Foundation of the Sun Coast.
“I don’t like driving distances, but when I’d grumble to myself, I’d say, ‘This isn’t about me,” said Moore.
Her friendship with Haag gave her the strength and courage to see him every week, sometimes more often. She became his healthcare surrogate and the only family he had.
“The last time I was with him – it was on a Sunday – I told him I loved him. He said ‘I love you too Mary, Mary quite contrary.”
He died that Tuesday.
Moore placed Haag’s obituary in the daily paper with his picture, hoping people who knew Haag would find out he passed away.
For more than six months Pontius wondered what happened to Haag. One day Pontius asked a Titusville police officer if he knew of the man who walked up and down U.S. 1.
He said he was sure the man died. Without a last name, Pontius had trouble finding out any other information about him. But on July 12, she saw the obituary and photo Moore had placed and called the paper to ask for a copy of Haag’s picture.
Pontius wanted to do something for Haag to memorialize him.
She was given Moore’s phone number and then the pieces fit. Both women met and had the same thought – to have a memorial for him. They even scoured the woods together to try to find Haag’s place he called home in the woods but without success. Both women want to help bring closure to those Haag touched.
“I’m sure there are people like me who saw Ted a lot and didn’t know what happened to him,” Pontius said.
They arranged a memorial service at the Tom Statham Park (Paw Paw Pavilion), 7101 S. U.S. 1, Bellwood (just south of Titusville) on Aug. 22, 2 p.m.
American Legion Post 1 Chaplain Chuck Geiger will officiate and Noncommissioned Officer in Charge Clyde Plummer will command the Brevard Honor and Color Guard.
The public is invited, especially those who knew Haag.
“We want people to come and share their memories of him,” said Pontius.
Donations of canned goods will be appreciated at the memorial and given to a local chapter of the National Veterans Homeless Support.
For more information, call 631-5689 or 383-7857. A blog site is set up in his memory for those wanting to share thoughts – tedhaag.blogspot.com.
“I really miss him,” said Moore.
“We don’t want him to be forgotten.”


Original Article: http://www.northbrevardbeacon.com/stories.html