In Loving Memory of Dr. Zach Haws

Every dental office has a history of how its journey came to be, but few trace their beginnings to college where, while preparing for dental school, Anneliese Taylor met a handsome college baseball player, Zach Haws. Immediately, they liked each other and spent great times together. They shared interests in mountain biking, hiking, fly fishing, skiing and their science college courses. Five months after meeting each other, Zach left for Finland to serve a two year mission for his church. During those two years, they exchanged letters, and one year after Zach returned from Finland, Zach and Anneliese married in May of 2001.

Anneliese & Zach’s marriage began with the adventure of moving to Cleveland, Ohio where Anneliese began dental school at the Case Western Reserve University and Zach began attending Cleveland State University. Watching Anneliese, Zach decided that he would like to be a dentist. He applied and was accepted to the Ohio State University Dental School. Anneliese had to choose between living apart from Zach for two years to finish her dental school training at CWRU, or to transfer to The Ohio State Dental School to stay close to Zach. She doesn’t actually remember making the choice, but became a Buckeye to finish out her last two years.The move to one of the largest universities in the country provided Zach and Anneliese many opportunities to engage in the excitement generated by a Big Ten school. Not the least of which, was their enthusiastic opportunity to become true scarlet and gray Buckeye Fans! The games at the iconic “Horseshoe,” the lovable Brutus and the in-common encounters with the enthusiastic Buckeye fans highlighted their journey through school. The Buckeye loyalty remains a major highlight of the years at The Ohio State.

Anneliese graduated from the OSU Dental School in June of 2005. Zach still had two years to complete. Idaho was still the spot marked on both their maps, so rather than start a practice, Dr. Taylor completed a GPR (Graduate Program Resident) at The OSU Dental & Medical Schools. The succeeding year, Dr. Taylor was invited to be a faculty member at The OSU Dental School, as well as, giver the opportunity to receive additional training in implants.

Over their six years of graduate training, Zach and Anneliese returned to Idaho as often as time allowed to ski, mountain bike, hike, camp and fish as many lakes and rivers as possible while spending time with family and great friends. Finally, six years and two children later, Dr. Haws and Dr. Taylor headed back to Idaho. They were happy to be home and anxious to begin the journey of setting up a dental office.

Their shared interests gave them time to talk about what the most important things in their lives would be: mainly, their two children, Ty and Bryton, and the kind of professionals they wanted to be. Zach and Anneliese spent a great deal of time determining what they wanted to be their shared dental creed. They articulated a philosophy that dental care is about the patient and that unnecessary or expensive would never be recommended when a more reasonable approach would be in the best interest of the patient’s care. Zach and Anneliese both resolved that honesty, integrity, and dedication to doing what was best for the patient would be the only compass they would ever need.

In the beginning of their return home, Dr. Taylor began working for Terry Riley Dental Clinics, while Dr. Haws began to build their dental practice from the ground up. It did not take long before Dr. Haws built a practice with so many good people of Kuna that it was time for Dr. Taylor to move into the practice to be able to give more patients timely care. Dr. Taylor moved in as a partner in 2011.

The next five years seemed like a dream come true for Zach and Anneliese, now Dr. Haws and Dr. Taylor, as they worked side by side and built together a dental practice that fit their philosophy of care. Then tragically, Dr. Haws passed away on November 6, 2015. Anneliese was devastated by the loss of her loving husband and partner. It seemed Swan Falls dentistry had suffered a loss that Anneliese could never bring back on course again. Anneliese struggled with how she could return to her office and deal with the emptiness of Zach being gone. Reflecting on their life together and gathering strength, Anneliese began to realize that Zach had been a strong compassion her life and that she would find the strength to honor what he had dedicated his life to accomplish and what had been such a large part of their love for eachother. Swan Falls Dentistry remains as a legacy to a love affair that Zach and Anneliese had built together as a husband and wife and as professional dentists.

The philosophy of the office remains unchanged. Simply put, it is: “Do what you love, and then do the right thing, always”.