HAURING, Steven Gordon 1949 - 1988

HAURING, KESTI, QUASS, REEVES, STEFNAC

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/15/2024 at 21:54:50

"The Ottumwa Courier"
Tuesday, December 20, 1988
Front Page, Columns 4 and 5

Executive dies in sweat lodge
Native American 'sauna' overcomes Fairfield man

By Judy Krieger
Courier staff writer

FAIRFIELD -- a 39-year-old Fairfield man died Sunday in Iowa City a few hours after he and four other men had been in a sweat lodge near Tipton.

Steven Gordon HAURING, executive vice president of Ritam Corp. in Fairfield, died at 1:23 a.m. Sunday at University Hospitals (note: in Iowa City, Johnson Co., IA).

The Cedar County Sheriff's department said HAURING had been "utilizing a steam tent" at Cedar Valley Stables about four miles west of Tipton in Cedar County.

"He was found unconscious in the tent by friends," a sheriff's department release said.

He was transported by helicopter to Iowa City, and the incident remains under investigation, the department said.

The cause of death isn't being released until autopsy results are known "sometime this week," according to the office of Dr. T.T. Bozek, Johnson County medical examiner.

Richard Gaul, owner of Cedar Valley Stables, said the five men were from Fairfield and had planned to stay overnight at the stable facilities.

People often build sweat lodges on his land, he said.

"It's a Native American custom, popular with people interested in Native American traditions," he said.

HAURING had previously experienced a sweat lodge at the stables, Gaul said.

He learned of the death late Saturday night.

"One of the men drove up to the ranch and said Steven was choking," Gaul said, speculating that the lodge "got too hot" and that HAURING may have become nauseated. "They weren't able to get him out."

The identities of the other men were unknown on Monday, but all were believed to be members of the Sterling Institute of Relationship, a community service group in Fairfield.

Gaul said it has been the only such incident at his business.

"I've been in a sweat lodge," Gaul said. "It can be very intense.

"It can be a self-development type of thing. There's nothing bizarre about it. People do it for different reasons. It can be very relaxing."

Howard Dugan of rural Fairfield said Native Americans considered the sweat lodge a cleansing ritual. The lodges have been in existence for "thousands of years," from tribes in Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.

Dugan, who said he wasn't acquainted with HAURING, said he frequently uses his own sweat lodge on a weekly or monthly basis.

Tradition calls for the sweat lodge frames to be made of river willows, covered by plastic or canvas or "anything handy."

Rocks or bricks are heated outside the lodge, and when red hot, put in a pit inside the lodge. Dripping water then causes the steam or sauna-type atmosphere.

The temperature inside the lodge is controlled by the amount of water added, Dugan said.

If there is any danger, Dugan said it could be from someone who has a heart condition or is under a lot of stress.

"It's the same thing with a sauna," Dugan said.

Sweat lodges are becoming "a pretty common thing," he added.

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"The Ottumwa Courier"
Monday, December 19, 1988
Page 10, Column 1

Steven HAURING

FAIRFIELD -- Steven Gordon HAURING, 39, 807 Burlington, Fairfield, died at 12:58 a.m. Dec. 18, at University Hospitals in Iowa City.

He was born Sept. 5, 1949, in Highland, Mich., to Arthur G. and Senia KESTI HAURING. He had lived in Detroit, Mich., moving to Fairfield five years ago. He was executive vice president for Ritam Corp. in Fairfield. He was a 1971 graduate of the University of Michigan and a veteran of the U.S. Army. He was a member of Redford Lutheran Church in Detroit, Cubmaster for Cub Scout Troop 67 Washington School, Friendship Force in Fairfield and Sterling Institute-Community Leader. He married Karin W. QUASS March 15, 1974, in Germany.

He is survived by his wife; two sons, Neil and Alan at home; his father and stepmother, Arthur and Shirley HAURING of Hancock, Mich.; two sisters, Susan REEVES of Danville, Calif. and Joan STEFNAC of San Diego, Calif.

The service will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Behner Funeral Home, the Rev. John Meyer officiating. Burial will be Evergreen Cemetery.

The family will be at the funeral home from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Memorials have been established to Leapfrog Foundation and Friendship Force.

The casket will remain closed.

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"The Ottumwa Courier"
Wednesday, December 28, 1988
Page 3, Column 6

Tests to find cause of sweat lodge death

FAIRFIELD -- It may be a month before lab results determine how a Fairfield man died Dec. 18 in a Tipton sweat lodge.

Steven Gordon HAURING, 39, executive vice president of Ritam Corp. in Fairfield, was found unconscious in the lodge. He later died at University Hospitals in Iowa City.

A spokesperson for Johnson County Medical Examiner T.T. Bozek said lab results may take two to three weeks "even months. We've had that before."

Johnson County, the spokesperson said, sends it lab tests out-of-state.

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Fairfield, IA, in Lot 2nd.261. Wife Karin died in 2020 and was buried with him.

Karin W. QUASS-HAURING's obituary -- click here
 

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