Gloria Mae Hauser

Gloria Campbell-Hauser, age 90, died October 1, 2026, at Mercy One Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa after struggling for several weeks from health issues. Gloria had spent the day surrounded by her family who celebrated her 90th birthday, where she smiled and spoke to her sons and their children who loved her dearly. Later in the evening her energy waned, and she passed with her daughter at her side.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:00 a.m. Saturday, October 10, 2026 at Holy Family Parish in New Hampton with Rev. Chris Podhajsky celebrating the Mass.

Friends may greet the family from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2026 at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in New Hampton.  Visitation continues an hour prior to the Mass at the church on Saturday.

Hugeback – Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in New Hampton has been entrusted with arrangements.

Gloria Mae Campbell, the youngest of five children, was born October 1, 1936, in New Hampton, Iowa to Mary Elizabeth Roehrich and Elmer Ellsworth Campbell. Her father worked on the Chicago Great Western Railroad, and Gloria’s fondness for trains was evident when she spoke about riding the train with her sister Helen to their uncle’s home in Minnesota. Her father, who Gloria was very close to and spoke of often, was nicknamed “Doc” because of his reputation for fixing ailing horses and other animals in the county. Eventually, Gloria and her family moved to Oelwein for a short period when her father was transferred and then they returned home to New Hampton where Gloria lived for over 85 years.

Gloria made a point of telling her family that she wanted her brother to be recognized when she passed because he never had a funeral. It was not uncommon to hear Gloria talk about family roots and her brother Ellsworth (Bud), a highly decorated tail gunner in the B-17 bombers whose plane, the “Wee Miss America,” was shot down in World War II on his last mission in 1944. The memory had a profound impact on Gloria. She often recalled how Bud was buried in France for five years and her grieving mother persistently wrote letters to the government to return her son home. Gloria, wearing her long coat and white bobby socks, met the train with her family at the Milwaukee Railroad depot in New Hampton and in the winter of 1949 when she was 13 her brother returned home in a flag-draped coffin.

In 1954, Gloria graduated from the New Hampton High School. She excelled as a typist, speller, and one who had mastered shorthand dictation. She was extremely gifted and there were times when her teacher never corrected her paper but asked Gloria to help correct the papers of her classmates. As a senior, her teacher mentored Gloria and encouraged her to apply as a secretarial specialist because the FBI was seeking more young talented women, but it would’ve required Gloria to relocate to Des Moines. She politely listened to her teacher as Gloria’s girlfriends waited eagerly outside the classroom, wanting to know why the teacher had spoken privately to her. Gloria did not tell her teacher that she had met a young man she wanted to marry and politely thanked her teacher for considering her.

In 1955, she married James (Bryan) Hauser on her birthday, October 1, at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church. They lived on the Hauser-Lynch family farm where Bryan taught her how to drive a tractor and shoot a gun. In 1961, he took Gloria on an adventurous two-week summer road trip in a big white Dodge convertible driving through seven states with the convertible top down for most of the way.

Her first professional job after high school was working as a transcriber of doctor’s medical notes at Medical Associates in New Hampton. As a young newly married women in the 1950s, Gloria was respectful, a little quiet, and yet, at the same time, always interested in the lives of others asking lots of questions, so it was not surprising she found herself working with the public. In 1958, she was hired by the late Attorney William J. Kennedy, where she worked for three years, while also assisting the New Hampton Abstractor and the County Assessor’s office. Her attention to detail and unwavering work ethic was quickly recognized. She was sought out to serve as a deputy auditor, and in 1961 Gloria became a Chickasaw County Deputy Auditor at the age of 25.

Gloria served the county from 1961 to 1996: 19 years as Deputy and 16 years as County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections. Among the many responsibilities she assumed, Gloria was instrumental in transitioning the county from paper voting ballots to voting machines, overseeing the conversion of hand-drawn plat books to computer generated maps, and helped facilitate the implementation of the E-911 system in 1989. Throughout her 35 years of public life, she enjoyed serving the people of Chickasaw County.

Besides her public work life, Gloria welcomed a good laugh and the company of others. She was a member of both a local pool and bowling league, an American Legion Auxiliary member, and the oldest living local member of the Catholic Daughters of America. She was also eager to converse about ancestors, connecting the past to the present. Gloria was overjoyed when she got to go overseas on a trip to Ireland, Scotland, and England, tracing her grandparent’s roots before they came to America.

Even though she worked outside the home from the mid-1950s until retirement in 1996 and raised three children, she still found the energy to spruce up her home and make the best farm fresh fried chicken on Sunday after church. Always keeping her mind active, Gloria enjoyed watching baseball, football, and reading. During retirement, she would go to the local library with her book bag and a notebook to keep track of what she had already read so that she wouldn’t get the same book twice. Until wet macular degeneration affected her eyesight, Gloria read over 200 books a year.

Married 23 years, Gloria’s husband, Bryan, preceded her in death until his untimely passing in 1978 at the age of 42. Others who passed before her include both of her brothers Ellsworth and James, sisters Viola (Sis) Katz and Helen Pleggenkuhle, her parents, and Lorraine Weiglein. Gloria had wanted others to know that Lorraine was a very special grandparent/babysitter to her children when Gloria was working at the courthouse and Bryan was farming in the fields.

Gloria’s survivors include her three children: Wade, spouse Deanna of New Hampton; David, spouse Carol of New Hampton; and Diane, spouse Terri of Beaumont, TX. Gloria’s grandchildren are Wade’s son Jared (Kristi), Wade and Deanna’s children Catherine Van Natta (Kolton), Bryan (Beth), Connor, and step- granddaughter Andrea Flack (Amos); and David and Carol’s sons Hayden and Gatlin. Gloria’s great- grandchildren are Jacob, Journey, Madison, Addalyn, and Camden. She also leaves behind many loved nieces, nephews, and friends. Gloria was grateful for the care she received from her niece Robyn Proffitt and grandson Connor, which allowed her to remain in her home with her loyal cat, Pepper, until her final days when October 1 marked Gloria’s birth date, her wedding date, and her passing.

641-394-4334.