Obituary of William Hazen

Our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, the Reverend William A. Hazen, died peacefully at home on Sunday, January 12, 2014. Bill had successfully undergone open-heart surgery and treatment for prostrate cancer during 2013, and had appeared to be doing well; nevertheless, he was unexpectedly called from this life. He is survived by his wife of almost 57 years, Marlene, and children, Rob (Deolinda), Deborah, Denise (Victor), Diane (Bruce), grandchildren, Kristina, Justin, Christopher, Andrew, Allegra, Hollister, Hutton and great-grandchildren Angelina and Raymond. He is also survived by his remaining sister, Joanne Thomas. We are all so very heartbroken and will miss him deeply. Bill was a native of Los Angeles. He received a B.A. from Occidental College, and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. Bill was ordained in 1958 by the Presbytery of Los Angeles at his home church, Bethany Presbyterian Church. He was also licensed as a M.F.C.C. Bill served both the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, N.J. ('58-'59) and Anaheim, CA ('59-'62). He served as Pastor of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church ('62-'67) and of Wilshire Presbyterian Church ('67-'96), both in Los Angeles. He retired in 1996, but continued to give service to the church community on numerous committees, commissions, as Moderator of the Presbytery of the Pacific and as a part-time member of the Presbytery staff for 11 ½ years. His counseling background, as well as having been a successful urban pastor working in cross-cultural settings made him an invaluable counselor, mentor, advisor and advocate for other pastors and congregations. He will be remembered by his colleagues as hard-working, deeply conscientious, rooted in faith, loving and gentle in spirit, filled with the wisdom that comes from living a life dependent upon God, and always engaged in learning something new along the way. In retirement, Bill and Marlene moved to Carpinteria, CA, a community to which he'd been coming for many years, both as a child during camping vacations with his parents and three sisters, Urla, Dorothy and Joanne, as well as with Marlene and his own children throughout the years. He and Marlene delighted in their participation in the Carpinteria community, and were supporters of Carpinteria Beautiful, members of the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara, advocates of the arts and of the Carpinteria Library. One of the other places that was special and much loved by Bill was his property and rustic cabin on the Old West Ranch in the Tehachapi Mountains. During his years as a Presbyterian minister in Los Angeles, he loved to spend time at the cabin studying the scriptures and writing notes for future sermons. Bill frequently said how grateful he was to Marlene's parents, Bob and Florence Hutton, for locating the parcels that the family purchased on the Old West Ranch. We treasure our memories of Thanksgivings with family and friends at the cabin, and many church youth campouts. A memorial service for Bill will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 2:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara. In lieu of flowers or gifts, donations can be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara, or to the charity of your choice.