06/21/2026
We are saddened to report the passing of our Kiwanis brother Luther Haseley, 94, who joined the Lord on June 12, 2026.
Luther was a long time member of the Kiwanis Club of Athens along with his wife Jeanne who is still with us.
In 2022 in honor of this 90th birthday, the Athens County Commissioners passed a resolution proclaiming Friday as Luther Haseley Day in Athens County. It reported, in part, as follows:
Haseley was born in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, on April 29, 1932, first moving to Athens with his wife, Jeanne in 1956. He served as a resident assistant in Bush Hall while attending graduate school at Ohio University.
While at OU, he supported himself and his new bride by pumping gas and washing windows at the Mathews gas station on West Union Street.
Haseley joined the faculty of Ohio University as a professor in 1965, working in counselor education.
In the resolution, commissioners said he is remembered fondly by students, especially for his classes on marriage and family counseling and group therapy.
Haseley was active in university life, serving as chair of the education guidance and counseling department, as a counselor in the College of Education’s counseling center, and as a member of Faculty Senate where he helped lead one of the first organizing drives for faculty unionization at OU.
He was also active on international education projects, which led him and family members to long stints in Nigeria, Japan, Germany, Spain, Botswana and Mexico. However, they always returned home to Athens.
Haseley has been active in the Athens civic community, serving on the 317 Board, the Live Healthy Appalachia Board, the Athens Disability Commission and Christ Lutheran Church Council. He also helped in starting the Careline su***de prevention hotline.
The commissioners’ resolution also noted that he helped those outside the Athens community, frequently riding back and forth on his motorcycle to Columbus where he carried on an active counseling practice.
Additionally, he was also a gentleman farmer. He raised cattle and even pigs on his Athens farm, which became legendary on Bassett Ridge after Luther was seen chasing his tractor down a hill before it crashed beside his pond, making his daughters chase cows in their prom dresses during one of the frequent Haseley cattle breaks.
They noted that he always was carrying a cattle prod and baseball bat in his car for when his large Charolais bull got loose.
Since his retirement from Ohio University, he has remained an active member of Christ Lutheran Church, the Senior Club, the Tuesday Club and the Kiwanis Club of Athens, where he’s a past president, and continued to be vocal in the civic and political life of our area.
He will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace. Condolences and prayers to Jeanne and the family.
- Kiwanis Club of Athens
