Herbert Edward Hahn

Herbert Edward Hahn, 88, of Gonzales, passed away on Friday, April 21, in the presence of his wife Jesse Nelle. Herbert was born November 18, 1928, in Otto, Texas to Theodore and Johanna Glockzin Hahn. He and Nelle were married in Gonzales, July 18, 1952. Herbert was a member of the Seydler Street Church of Christ.

Herbert grew up south of Waco and, later, Gonzales, where his father worked as a tenant farmer. He split his time between learning at school, and working in the fields. Before graduating, he enlisted in the United States Army, eventually being deployed to post-WWII Japan. Before his honorable discharge in 1953, Herbert came to Gonzales, where he and Jesse Nelle met, and were married.

The newlyweds moved to Waco, where Herbert worked for the U. S. Postal Service. While there, he was called to pastoral ministry. The fledgling Hahn family, that now included son Jimmy, lived and labored in a succession of Texas communities: Troy, Schertz, Victoria. From Victoria, they launched out into overseas missions, travelling to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to preach the gospel of Christ. They remained in Europe for half a decade.

Upon returning to the States, Herbert and Nelle (with children Jim and now Lori in tow) settled in Vanderbilt, Texas. There, Herbert served as minister of the local Church of Christ. While living in Vanderbilt, the family adopted their third child, Karen. In the early seventies, Herbert began working in sales for the Farm Bureau Insurance Company, in Jackson County, while continuing to help small churches as a lay preacher.

In 1985, the couple moved to Gonzales, where they have lived until the present. Herbert was employed by the Gonzales Farm Bureau for another ten years until his retirement. Ever since, he has devoted himself to tending his cattle, fishing his tank for bass and catfish, and sharing Christ through his church’s prison ministry. He enjoyed cheering the Dallas Cowboys and San Antonio Spurs to victory, relished tending a prolific vegetable garden with his wife, and loved serving up a terrific stack of pancakes (“You’re eating only three?”) for any or all his nine grandchildren.

Herbert Hahn was an honest man of integrity, tenacious and hard-working, sometimes stubborn, often tender, always compassionate; a quiet man, unassuming and unpretentious, who loved God, his family, and his neighbor -- the “common man” – in that order; a forgiven man, who was, in turn, quick to forgive; a humble man who took the Bible seriously, and trusted God to keep His promises of mercy and grace.

Herbert is survived by his wife of nearly 65 years Jesse Nelle Reid Hahn of Gonzales; three children, Jim Hahn of Waco, LoriAnn Hahn Lavallee of Austin and Karen Hahn Fuselier of Pleasanton; nine grandchildren: Beth Hahn, Rachel Dacke, Colten Fuselier, Colby Fuselier, JoLyn Hahn Kile (Dylan), Caroline Hahn, Travis Lavallee, Sarah Nelle Lavallee, and Caden Fuselier, a daughter-in-law, Jan Smithey Hahn; two sons-in-law, Robert Fuselier and Kirk Lavallee and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, as well as seven siblings: Willie Hahn, Hulda Reid, Albert Hahn, Alice Golenko, Josephine McAnnich, Odie Hahn and Fred Hahn.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, April 24 in Seydler-Hill Funeral Home with Mr. Allen Hahn of Rosenberg officiating. Interment service will follow in Gonzales Memorial Park Cemetery. Pallbearers: Rex Boggs, Mike Ivey, Bobby Pakebusch, Randall Sweeney, Edwin Weaver, and Perry Winegeart. Honorary pallbearers will be his 9 grandchildren. Visitation was held from 4-6 p.m. on Sunday, April 23 in Seydler-Hill Funeral Home. In lieu of plants and flowers, memorials may be made to the Sunny Glen Children’s Home, San Benito, Texas. Services are under the care and direction of Seydler-Hill Funeral Home.