Haney built an infrastructure of care here

The community lost a prominent lawyer, a crusader for the developmentally disabled and an old-fashioned gentleman with the death of J. Donald Haney on Thursday. He was 97.

Haney and his late wife, Gratia Belle, made a simple yet profound decision that changed the course of their lives and, eventually, the face of Colorado Springs: They decided to keep their son with Down syndrome at home instead of sending him to an institution.

That may seem like an easy call in 2008, but in 1953 it was unusual. The Haneys and their six children went on to become determined advocates for the developmentally disabled in Colorado Springs, helping to build an infrastructure of support in the city.

"My parents were extraordinary," said son Jeff Haney. "When Stevie was born, he was called a ‘mongoloid idiot.' It was the dark ages. There was nothing here. There were no people trained to help.

"It was very hard. But Dad just took off with a smile on his face and unbelievable passion and love."

One of the Haneys first moves after Steve's birth was to team up with other parents to start the Hope House, a small preschool for special-needs kids.

"They knew there must be other children like this around," Haney's daughter Suellen Haney McAndrews has told The Gazette. "Everybody thought this was a big waste of time for these kids, saying, ‘They aren't going to amount to anything.'"

Don Haney went on to help found the El Paso County Association for Retarded Citizens, the Rocky Mountain Rehabilitation Center and the local Mosaic house. He served on many boards, including Boys Club, Health Association of the Pikes Peak Region and the Colorado State Health Facilities Advisory Council.

In short, he was the champion for a group of people who had been consigned to the societal trash heap.

"He was not a powerful or political man," Jeff Haney said, "but he was the pioneer for everything for the developmentally disabled."

Haney, a true local boy, went to Cheyenne Mountain High School and Colorado College, where he was a golfer and a cheerleader. Decades later he received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater for humanitarian service, and Mosaic (formerly Martin Luther Homes) named him its national person of the year in 1997.

Haney served in the Navy during World War II, and worked a half-century for the law firm his father founded - now part of the large local firm Holland & Hart.

Family friend John Hazlehurst, who grew up across the street from the Haney family, described Haney as an attorney guided by personal integrity who served other people before himself.

"He was a moral and ethical voice," Hazlehurst said.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Contributions can be made to the Stephen S. Haney Endowment Fund, in care of Mosaic, 4980 S. 118th St., Omaha NE 68137.