[1][2] Her mother had attended college and she taught the children from home, although she received less than an eighth grade education.

She began working at C. P. Kimball's General Store after moving in with her aunt and uncle, where she met her future husband, James C.

During her first term, she sponsored a bill which was signed into law by Governor Clarence D. Martin to improve the "vocational rehabilitation and education of disabled persons".

[1] Haddon was re-elected in the 1934 general election and retained her position as chair of the educational institutions committee.

As chair of the education committee, she sponsored legislation for the state to adopt seven junior colleges and worked with fellow senator Monty Percival to sponsor legislation establishing the Western State Custodial School (later renamed the Rainier School) in Buckley.

[1] During World War II, Haddon sold the family grocery store, as her husband had died in 1938, but she struggled financially.

She was encouraged by her constituents to run for office as the city's finance commissioner, which had a higher salary, and she was elected in 1942, resigning from the senate the same year.

[1][2] While in the legislature, Haddon had pushed for a junior college to be opened in Bremerton but this had been shelved after the outbreak of World War II.