Peter Micah Haden of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, was born on January 31, 1977, and passed away on May 24, 2025.

With a storyteller's soul, Peter lived 48 remarkable years, bringing his vibrant investigative voice to journalism. Peter passed away far too soon, but not before he filled his life—and ours—with uncommon purpose, adventure, and love.

Peter held two degrees from the University of Iowa and a master's from the Arizona State's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. He was a Ford Global Scholar, an Ethics in Journalism Fellow, and a trusted mentor to many. More than his titles, what mattered more was how he made you feel—heard, seen, understood.

Peter didn't just report stories. He chased them across five continents—riding freight trains with migrants in Mexico, trekking through the Andes with Chilean cowboys, bouncing through India in a rickshaw. From Panama to Ukraine, Chile to Oaxaca, he walked with others not as a visitor, but as a witness. He focused where others feared to look: into drug rehab scams in Florida, into the broken bail system of Houston, into the poisoned waters of the St. Johns River. And he did it not for the accolades—though there were many, including two Edward R. Murrow awards—but to make change. Peter captured stories for NPR, BBC, Reveal, CNN en Español, WLRN, USA Today, ECTV Ukraine, and dozens more. His work sparked policy reform, spurred legislation, and changed hearts.

Peter once wrote:

"I use words, sounds, and images to capture the public's attention and help them understand—intellectually and emotionally—what goes on. To take them somewhere they might not go and put them in someone else's shoes."

He lived by that principle time and again.

Peter was not only a storyteller; he was a husband and father, friend, teacher, and citizen of the world. He met his treasured Kibinesh Fulas while in graduate school. They married, and out of that union, their daughter, Rekik Renee Peter Haden, was born, whose U.S. citizenship Peter secured at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa. Peter's two brightest lights were Kib and Rikki, who now carry on his legacy of courage, compassion, and curiosity.

We will miss Peter's thoughtful handwritten letters, his big hugs, his hearty laugh, his wide smile, and his drive to shine light in dark places.

Peter is survived by his wife: Kibinesh Fulas, daughter: Rekik Haden, parents: Renee and Steve Stauter, and Kenneth Haden, mother-in-law: Belet Tadesse siblings: Luke Haden, and Heidi Haden, brothers and sisters-in-law Genet Fulas, Adanech Fulas, Kidist Fulas, Meseret Fulas, Mulushoa Fulas, Estifanos Fulas, grandmother Marlene Glasnapp. And many extended family and friends.

Preceding him in death are his grandparents, Dean and Alma Haden, Roger Glasnapp, and his father-in-law, Chala Fulas.

A Funeral Service is happening on Saturday, May 30, 2025, in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. The Visitation is from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., on Monday, June 2, 2025, at the Lampe & Powers Funeral Home in Lake City, Iowa. Graveside service is 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at the St. Peter Lutheran Cemetery in rural Sac City, Iowa.