Joseph Hazen Showed Art Annually at Sculpin Gallery

Joseph C. Hazen Jr., 93, a resident of Essex Meadows in Essex, Conn., died on Friday, May 13.

Mr. Hazen described himself as a very lucky man who thoroughly enjoyed his mid-western boyhood, his school days, his work, his retirement, his hobbies, his friends and his long life. He was born in 1912 in Janesville, Wis., but he lived most of his early years in Peoria, Ill., before moving east to New Jersey with his father, a Baptist minister, his mother and his brother and sister.

In 1935 Mr. Hazen was graduated from the Princeton University school of architecture. He was employed by Time Inc. in New York city all his working life, first as the managing editor of Architectural Forum and later as general manager of Time-Life Books. His interest in architecture led to his service on the planning boards of the New Jersey communities in which he lived, South Orange and Summit, and to his service as a trustee of the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust.

Upon retirement in 1972, Mr. Hazen embarked on a second career, residential architecture and artwork. He designed a number of houses on the Vineyard, where he summered for 50 years and achieved success as an artist.

His artworks, mainly serigraphs, were accorded one-man shows in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, were marketed by a dozen commercial galleries in the northeast and are represented in hundreds of private and corporate collections. He loved the water and anything related to it. The subjects of his art were mostly sailboats and seascapes. Because he painted mainly for the fun of it, much of the income from his artwork was contributed to his favorite Vineyard institutions. He was a member of the Essex and Old Lyme art associations and for many years served as a trustee of the New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts and the Martha's Vineyard Art Association.

The Old Sculpin Art Gallery in Edgartown featured a show of his serigraphs every year at the close of the summer season. "I know I've had a lot of fun creating them, and the public seems to enjoy them too. And that is the only reason I work at art," Mr. Hazen told the Vineyard Gazette in August 1990.

During World War II, Mr. Hazen helped organize the 77th Division Artillery at Fort Jackson, S.C., taught at the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Okla., and was a staff officer in the artillery headquarters in the European Theatre. He earned the rank of lieutenant colonel and was awarded the bronze star for his actions in conjunction with the sinking of his torpedoed troop ship.

For 43 years, Mr. Hazen was married to his high school sweetheart, Helen Claire Stevens, who died in 1981. He is survived by a daughter, Libby, of Bellingham, Wash.; a son Joseph 3rd of Chatham, N.J.; four grandchildren, Andrew, Carolyn, John and Laura; two great-grandchildren, Jesse and Lucy.

Interment will be private.

The Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home, 34 Main street, Centerbrook, Conn. is in charge of arrangements.