Online Archives

Margaret Orpah Haus, 91, the widow of the late Rev. Louis E. Haus, died Jan. 28, 2013. The Revs. George Harpold and Jack George officiated at her funeral service Jan. 31 at the Adams Family Funeral Home.

Margaret Orpah Holsinger was born in Mount Savage, Md., Dec. 26, 1921, the daughter of the late Roy William Holsinger and Maude Selina (Kirby) Holsinger. She was the last surviving member of her immediate family.

She and the Rev. Louis E. Haus were married in 1942, years before he entered the ministry. She was encouraging and supportive as he began a second career in 1982. He served Westernport UMC for seven years beginning in 1982 and retired in 1990. She led the choir there. They moved to LaVale, where he served as an interim pastor for a few months. He then was appointed to Zion and Centenary UMCs and retired again in 1993 because of ill health. They were married 52 years before his death in 1994.

Primarily a homemaker, Haus fit in well with her husband’s ministry. She directed the Mount Savage UMC choir for 30 years. In her earlier years, she taught the piano/organ and wrote/directed minstrels and musicals. In her later years, she played the organ and piano for the Zion and Centenary churches in Cumberland.

.While president of the Mount Savage Homemakers Club, Haus was recognized by the Woman's Home Companion Magazine in 1954 for distinguished community service. Because of this, she and a club member were interviewed on WTBO radio.

Haus is survived by a sister-in-law, Dorothy “Dot” Miller of Altoona, Pa.