Jerry (Holger) Haffke
In 1973

Jerry Haffke
The Originator Of This Web Site
In 1977
In The Background Is My Faithful
1973 Plymouth "Valiant".
Picture taken at my condominium
on Juniper Road in Bethel, Ct.

Donna-Jo Morgenroth
Who Would Become My Wife
In 1978 - Picture Taken In 1977.
Donna Passed Away From Cancer
On December 28, 2006,
At Savannah Hospice, Savannah, Ga.
 

My son Kenny with a friend visiting
from Berlin, Germany at the
Cochran House parking lot in 1974
Sitting on my beloved "Valiant"..
That's when cars where still made
out of steel...

My son Kenny getting driving lessons
in my 1970 Toyota Corona Mark II
January, 1973

My daughter Kristen and my son
Kenny -ages ten years apart-
Both born in June...
Picture taken in Waterbury, Ct. 1981

My first wife Thelma's mother holding Kenny
with John Kilpatrick looking on. I am on
the right and Thelma's sister Lisa is on the
far left. Picture was taken at John's house
on 2 Wall Road, Newtown,-just off Churchill
Road where I rented the first floor apartment
from him. Above us lived Mrs. Joyce Conolly
with her three girls. Joyce worked at FHH
in "Personnel" at Newtown Hall.
Picture was taken in 1969.

John's House in Newtown, Wall Road,
Picture taken in May 1969

My son Kenny with his mother Thelma
shortly before her death in June 2007.
 

Here I am in 1968 and living in an
apartment in Mrs. LaFrance' house
with Thelma and new-born Kenny.
Mrs. La France R.N. was my relief-
shift supervisor in Greenwich House.
We needed an apartment desperately
and Pete Wagner knew Art King who
was Mrs. La France's friend and it was
through Art King's intervention that
Mrs. La France rented the up-stairs
apartment to us.
She was a wonderful person, as
supervisor as well as our landlord.
 

Thelma Oliver-Haffke,
my first wife, in 1967.
This is how I always want to remember
her. She was beautiful, intelligent and
a musical prodigy before she became
involved with the late 1960's "drug-
culture" which gradually destroyed
a beautiful soul and our marriage...
but never our friendship and my
love for her.

Kenny and my mother on our balcony
in Berlin, Germany 1976.
I had asked my good old friend John Kilpatrick
who lived in Florida at this time, to come along
for the visit since he had always wanted to see
Germany and he agreed which helped me a lot
trying to keep Kenny occupied in this large city,
amongst strangers he couldn't understand.
My mother was already sick from bone-cancer
and passed away in June, 1980.

Here is Thelma after our divorce probably
in the early to mid-1970's.....doing what
eventually destroyed her mind.
Although ravaged by Schizophrenia, she
was always the most loving, kind, generous
and gentle soul I have ever met and I shall
cherish her memory forever.

Bill Lawlor in front of Norwalk-Hall in 1971
with his Dodge "Dart"
 
Comment from Jerry:
In background to the right
is the female dorm "Stamford-Hall" and farther
down is the white porch of "Shelton-House".
The two large trees to the right served as gathering
places for young "hippies" with guitars, pot and girls.
Of course this could only happen after Mrs. Adams
had left and a general form of "openness" allowed
women in the dorms and the place became a mess.
Employees living there were even allowed to keep
pets, like dogs and cats in their rooms which I thought
was terribly cruel to those poor animals. There was
no more order nor discipline and that is when Billy
and I decided to move from Norwalk Hall to
Danbury Hall which was mainly a dorm for men
working in maintenance and thus quieter and
still more "conservative." Also, I should mention,
that patients didn't clean Norwalk Hall and dorm-rooms
anymore because it came to be seen as "exploitation".
Thus the entire place began gradually to look like a
third rate hotel on skid-row.

My best German friend who is
responsible for me coming to
Danbury, Ct. and eventually
to Fairfield Hills Hospital, with
his nice Pia on West Street in Danbury
Easter 1966. He also worked at FHH
from 1963 to 1969.
In the background is his infamous
"Metropolitan" car.

In the US Army, Fort Leonard Wood
Missouri, 1964

This Is Our Daughter Kristen
Born At Danbury Hospital
In June, 1978.
This picture was taken in
Bennington, Vermont, 1996

My son Kenny on board the PanAm 747
jumbo jet en-route to Frankfurt and
from there to Berlin, Germany

Kenny in the pool at Gloria Stock's house
in Bethel, Ct. where her mother
took care of him from
1973 to 1975
Gloria was a friend and co-worker
with me on Cochran House 2A

Pete Wagner worked at the back-parking lot
of Danbury Hospital in the 1970's. This is the
ticket booth with entrance and exit to
Hospital Avenue. This booth got knocked
over with him in it by a truck and he hurt
his back severely, resulting in many back-
surgeries without much help.
I spent a lot of time there visiting Pete.

The entrance lobby of Plymouth Hall
in 1963. I took this picture then
while waiting for Jimmy Fowler
to usher us into the weekly movie
performance.

My mother with my son Kenny in 1975.
She is on visit here from Berlin.
Picture is taken in Pete's back-yard
on 22 Hickok Ave. in Bethel, Ct.

Pete Wagner's house at
22 Hickok Ave. in Bethel, Ct.
which he bought in 1967.
View is from the back. In front
left, is a house where I rented
an apartment from 1975 to 1976.

My daughter Kristen visiting my aunt
Gerda in Berlin, Germany 1996

With my son Kenny on the hood of my "Valiant"
at Rosewood Ave. in Waterbury, Ct. 1974.

I rented an apartment there for Kenny and myself
but couldn't find reliable day-care for him while
I was working at FHH.
I was so angry about my situation and inability
to get some kind of help, that I contacted the
Communist Party USA in New Haven
where I met many wonderful people and
went regularly for their pot-luck dinners on a
weekly basis. I shall never forget the love and
kindness I experienced there. These were true,
down to earth "menschen," from Joelle Fishman,
Lenny and Sidney, to Professor of Theology and author,
Robert Arthur Griffin who had studied in Germany
 and who all embraced me with human comfort
and taught me never to condemn
people for their beliefs derived from their own
life-experiences and conclusions.
Since I could never be a "true believer," we had
to eventually part ways, but I shall always remember
them fondly and speak out in their defense....

And...PLEASE don't be shocked and condemn me,
because it is in my nature to EXPLORE and DISCOVER;
I have a need to experience "first hand" what things
are about and what makes people dedicate their lives
to a "cause"... And thus I'm always searching for TRUTH
...THE truth behind the myth and facade. My quest is
to question and find answers wherever it might lead
me. And...at least I'm honest and not afraid to speak
my mind, no matter what...
That's how I came to America--not to find fame
or fortune, but to fulfill my destiny--
And...that's why I have this web-site... Because ALL
the people who have crossed my path mean something
to me for they helped me to learn and grow...and
are worthy of being remembered.

Working at Fairfield Hills Hospital wasn't just
another job, but was more like a "testing ground"
to discover our capabilities to love and care
unconditionally and wrestle with our own demons
and shortcomings at the same time. We all had
"our moments" where we thought that we couldn't
take it any more.... Sometimes the stress and even
fear became overwhelming... And yet we all grew
to become better people...at work and "in the world."
And...no, we were not heroes, but we did overcome
often incredible situations which required more of
us than we had ever thought of as being capable of....
And THAT is why we loved Fairfield Hills Hospital,
Because we were given a chance to rise above
our own limitations and love unconditionally
without being called "wimps" or whatever...
this kind of selflessness would be labeled
in the "outside world."

Pete Wagner and I are invited by Mrs. Henningsen
to a picnic at Candlewood Lake, New Fairfield, Ct.
This picture was taken in July 1963.
Pete is third on the left. I'm not in the picture
because I'm the person who took it.
The lady left front worked at FHH and so
did the other two ladies on the right.

My first brand new car was a 1968
Toyota "Crown," which had just
come out and was highly praised
by one of the car magazines which
I had read on Kent House 2A as a
trainee there in 1967. It even came
with it's own "tool kit" which
wasn't a bad idea, because you
definitely needed it. The "Crown"
was their luxury model and it was
built like a tank....but NOBODY
including "Baron Motors" in Brookfield,
where I had bought it,
could fix it's many engine problems.
I traded it in for a 1966 Toyota "Land Cruiser" at Baron Motors in 1969....

Model image that looks exactly like
my used 1966 Toyota "Land Cruiser"
which WAS a tank and drove like one.
You had to be sturdy and tough to drive
it or ride in it, bouncing around like on
a carnival ride...And with gas-mileage
around 7 miles to the gallon, you had
to be rich even in those days of 49 cent gas.
And it had only three gears!
Even though this "tank" made me feel
very "macho," my first wife Thelma and
"financial considerations" made me go back
to "Baron Motors" and their cheap looking
sales-shack with only a one-stall repair
station and trade it in for a much more
civilized Toyota Corona Mark II "Station Wagon"
in 1970.

Berlin, Germany visit 1976
from left to right in my mother's living room:
my aunt Gerda who died last year
at age 94, my mother who died 1980, Kenny
and "uncle" John Kilpatrick, my best friend,
who died in 1989.

Same color image of a Corona Mark II
except that it's a sedan because I couldn't
find an image of a "Station Wagon"
anywhere.
This car was quite nice and good on gas.
I used to take it to "Fritz's Gulf Station"
in Botsford next to "The Pines" and the
hot dog stand. He did all the maintenance
superbly well, but advised me to get a
Plymouth "Valiant," which he praised
as a sweet American car which was reliable
and anybody could work on it....

So I broke the "Toyota spell" in 1973
at "Amaral Motors," located on
Route 25, close to FHH, in Newtown.
My Plymouth "Valiant", light blue, was
sitting right in his showroom and it was
a "no frills" model.
Fritz was right, this car was my all-time
favorite, sturdy and reliable and thus,
"the car-love of my life."
It was ME, plain and simple...

My son Kenny and John Kilpatrick in Berlin, 1976.
This trip with a bored eight year old, would have
been hell for me without good-natured
"uncle" John. No kids to play with and no
interests besides comic-books, John, joking
and poking fun at various things in Berlin,
was indeed my "savior" from a nervous-
breakdown...







 

John Kilpatrick's trailer outline on the left
at a park in Lutz, Florida, which is a
suburb of Tampa. I visited him there
in February 1978. Last I know, he had
open-heart surgery in Berlin, Ct. or in
Wallingford. He called me when I lived
with Donna, Kristen and Kenny in our
new house in Waterbury, Ct. and told
me that he was recuperating in a nursing-
home in Wallingford, Ct. in probably 1985.
I should have visited him there, but thought
that he would be out of there soon and
then I could visit him at his brother's home
in Berlin, Ct.
That was the last I heard from him until
much later in Vermont...
But that is another story for separate page.

My old friend Steve Hirst
from FHH with whom I
spent countless hours discussing
politics, philosophy, women,
spirituality, "Weltanschauung"
and so much more from 1979
to 1984 when he moved to Idaho
to play in a bluegrass band.
He is now married, teaches,
and lives in the San Francisco area.
Picture from 6-10-1996

Postcard from San Francisco which John
sent me in 1978, less than a month before
my daughter Kristen was born. He came
to visit us at this address in Waterbury in
July 1978 and stayed with us for about a
week before returning by plane to Lutz.
Kristen was less than two month old...
There is significance to my pointing this
out specifically...which will be clarified
with another significant story!
 

In February 1979 Donna and I bought
our first new home together which was
located at 93 Horseshoe Drive in Waterbury, Ct.

Here I am working part-time at a plastics shop
owned by John McDonald who was also a
housekeeping supervisor in Kent House.
John was a great guy and a "go-getter" and
he asked me one day, when he came
to Cochran House,
if I would like to work part time for him at his
shop on South Main Street in Waterbury, which
was almost in walking distance from our house
on Horseshoe Drive.
I went to work for him in 1984 and 1985, buffing
plastic parts on a buffing machine as shown in the
picture.
One time, I was all alone in the shop, I held a piece
of plastic carelessly against the brushes and the piece
was ripped out of my hands instantly. I watched the
piece with detached amazement flew up and then, as
if time was suspended, ever so slowly went just inches
past my head. The velocity of this piece, hitting me in
the head, could have killed me.
This entire episode, slowing time down to an
almost non-existence, was truly "supernatural."

Savannah, Ga., 2001
This is me with my faithful comrade
and best friend "Barkley" whom we
called "Barky". We bought him in
Manchester, Vermont in 1991 as a puppy
and he has been my "shadow" ever since.
Barky was my companion through thick
and thin...and he rode with me as my "co-
pilot" when I drove our moving van over
one-thousand miles to Savannah, mostly
on I-95. He never "complained" through-
out this long ride and just sat there, in the
passenger seat, propped-up like a king
watching me, the passing scenery and the
heavy traffic.
He adjusted well to Savannah and the
extensive heat and humidity and we
walked every day in "Daffin Park".....
Barky became diabetic in 2002 and he took
the twice daily insulin shots which I had to
give him without complaint or resentment.
He trusted me and I was his love, as he was
my love for so many years.
Barky passed away, literally in my loving
arms at about 11 pm, April 1, 2003.
I cried like I had never cried before for
many days, whenever I thought of him, or
something reminded me of him....
He is buried in my back-yard under the
watchful wings of an angel statue...
and I know for sure that we shall meet
again "on the other side" and play together
in the beautiful valley which has neither
tears nor pain--but eternal love and joy...
for ALL of God's children.

1995 Arlington, Vermont
Here I am with my granddaughter, Krystle
and my son Kenny in the back-yard of our
house on East Arlington Road.
I was working at the Vermont Veteran's Home
at the time. Notice my long silver hair!
Well, I cut it short again just after this picture
was taken. Too much bother and too much
"static" at work and at home...
When my daughter Kristen went off to college
in Savannah, Ga., we liked the climate there and
moved to Savannah permanently in July 1998.

Our house on the right, driveway and blue barn on the
left. Vermont winter, Arlington 1996.

My wife Donna
in Savannah, 2001

Barky's grave in my back-yard
in Savannah, 2004.

Vermont Veteran's Home in Bennington.
I'm on the far right.
Graduation from class, June 1988.

Sadie on left, Pete center and Benny on the right.
Better friends could not be found anywhere.

My father with his German Army dog
1941 in Schwerin/ Warthe
where I was born.

Lots of Love and Lots of Sunshine
even in April.