HALEY FAMILY — Kingsville Naval Air Station chaplain, Mark L. Haley, is pictured with his family at his home in the country in Bishop. They are pictured from left Benjamin; on the swings are Hannah, Abraham, Noah and Samuel (back). Standing in back from left are Joshua, Christian and Haley. His wife, Yvonne, and Moses are pictured seated. (Photo by Gloria Bigger-Cantu). Being dad is top job Being parents of nine children is a blessing for Lt. Mark L. Haley, and his wife Yvonne, and having a large family is a way of life for him and his wife.

“I always look at it as a blessing of the Lord and to be able to live together,” Haley said.

He serves as Command Chaplain at Naval Air Station Kingsville.

The Haley children, who range in age from two to 18 years old, consider him to be a kind, loving, caring father who spends time with them.

The children praise him for being the best “Daddy” in the world as they call him.

The younger ones took turns sitting on his lap on and off during the interview.

“He is an admirable husband and father,” praised his wife. “He is patient and kind and knows the right time to talk to them.”

“He is an extremely positive person,” said Yvonne Haley, 39.

“He does not worry because God is under control,” she said.

“ I am teaching them to love and trust in the Lord and helping them develop their own faith with Jesus,” Haley said. “The children are all different.”

His Father’s Day gift is wrapped in a box somewhere in their home. The contents are still a secret, but his wife

“I’ll take it if he doesn’t want it,” said Christian, 15.

On Father’s Day, the family will go to church, and then decide if they want to go to a movie or go swimming at the Navy base.

Haley believes spending time with the family is the most important responsibility in his life. Some of the activities he is involved with his children include taking them fishing at the Navy pond, Lake Corpus Christi or in Riviera. He also likes to play board games, such as chess, with the children. He likes to barbecue steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs for the children on weekends when possible.

Haley takes his wife out on a date night on Friday by themselves where they go to a restaurant either in Kingsville or Corpus Christi.

The children have two main rules at home. The first one is to help out with the house and to treat their brothers and sisters, as they want to be treated themselves.

The older ones take care of each other. The family centers its life on God and prayers; they pray before every meal and also in public.

“The husband and wife who pray together end up together 99 percent of the time,” he said.

Eight of the children live at home. The oldest child, Loy, 18, lives in San Angelo where she attends college there. She wants to become a doctor and is majoring in biology and chemistry at Angelo State University.

All of the children, with the exception of Loy, have Biblical names. They are Christian, 15, Joshua, 12, Benjamin, 10, Hannah, 8, Samuel 6, Abraham, 5, Noah 4 and Moses 2. The school age children attend school in the Bishop BCISD district.

Yvonne Haley is up at 5:30 a.m. each morning to get the children ready for the day. Everyday she washes clothes at least two to three times a day.

During the interview some of the children expressed their feelings about their father. The children were friendly, polite, obedient and patient during the interview as they observed the question and answer interview session.

“I think he is fun to be with, and I want to grow up to be like him,” said Christian, who will be in the tenth grade at Bishop High School next school year.

“He’s fun to play board games like chess,” said Joshua, a future eighth grader.

“I like him because he takes us fishing at the Navy pond,” said Ben, 11, a future fifth grader.

“I love him because he is wonderful and he reaches for the chips on top of the refrigerator for me,” said Hannah, a future third grader.

“I love Dad,” said Noah 4.

Ten months out of the year, birthdays are celebrated either at home or at places like Chuck E. Cheese’s in Corpus.

The family celebrates holidays traditionally like many families. They have Thanksgiving with all the trimmings especially pumpkin pies, and their paternal grandparents are often present. On Easter they attend sunrise service and later they participate in an Easter egg hunt. On Christmas Eve, the children get together and perform a nativity play and afterwards open one present. On Christmas Day, they open presents.

Haley credits his father, for learning to be a patient person and a family man. His father managed stores and his mother was a stay at home mom. The children, three sons, lived in San Angelo and were raised in a devout Christian home.

“My father was a very patient,” said Haley who graduated from Lakeview High School in San Angelo in 1980.

He met his wife, 20 years ago at the Salvation Army Church in Bremerton, Washington.

“We went up to the Spindletop in the space needle in Seattle, Washington, and I asked her to marry me,” he said. She was raised in foster homes and has one brother. Her mother lives in Washington State.

“I also gave my life to the Lord 20 years ago,” he said.

After the couple married, they did not plan to have a large family but after the birth of their first two children, they decided to have more children.

When Haley attended seminary school the couple already had five children. Single students asked him how he managed the course studies.

“I told them I had my support group and asked them how they did it,” Haley said.

He has a bachelor’s degree of applied science with a minor in electronics from East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas in 1995. He has a masters degree in divinity from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

His chaplain duties at NAS Kingsville range from conducting services at the McFall Chapel, a non-denominational church, to pastoral counseling.

He conducts deck plate ministry that involves walking around making himself available at the Navy base. He also flies in the back seat of planes when requested to do so.

“I make sure everyone has the opportunity to exercise freedom to church,” Haley said.

When visitors drive up to their place a tall sign greets them that states: “Faith, Hope and Love.” Another sign on the fence near their home states: “Caution Kid Zone” and they will be greeted by one or two of the children.

The family lives in a home located on five acres in the country in Bishop. The 4,700 square foot six bedroom, two bath home, was the original home of the Kieschnick family who also had a large family. This home, a Sears and Roebuck house, was built in 1912 and former owners have renovated the place throughout the years. The family relocated to Bishop from Hawaii last July and moved to their present home when it became available in October.

After Haley helped the family settle in Bishop, he was deployed to the Persian Gulf where he was involved in guarding oil platforms, chasing pirates and building community relations. He returned to his family in Bishop in December.

“Being a military wife takes lots of faith, hope, and love from the family, and the church and also the community,” he said.

Haley has been deployed two to six months at a time and contacted his family on a daily basis by telephone and e-mail.

The family members said they really like living in the country. Besides parents and children, the place is home to two dogs, two kittens, three miniature horses and one bird.