John DeHaan's Obituary
John De Haan, 83, of Lansing, KS formerly of Clinton, passed away suddenly Wednesday, December 17, 2008. John was born June 12, 1925 to Louis and Stella De Haan in the northwest Iowa community of Newkirk. In 1951, he married Betty Springer who preceded him in death in 1993. Two wonderful sons, Larry John and Robert James came from this union. In 1995, he married Darlene Metzger who also preceded him in death in 2004. He is survived by his two sons, Larry (Marcia) De Haan and their children Daniel, Laura (Paul) Haske, Stacey (Chris) Purdy, & Nathan and Robert (Denise) De Haan and their children Matthew, Andrew, & Adam. He is also survived by 3 brothers, Frank (Johanna) De Haan, Henry (Retz) De Haan, and Stan (Ruth) De Haan; 2 sisters, Arvella (Robert) Schuller, and Marge (Norm) Van Ommeren and was preceded in death by his sister and brother-in-law Winifred (Gerrit) Bosman. John grew up on the family farm in Newkirk, IA to the age of 17, when he joined the Navy and served in World War II in the South Pacific. He served as a Medical Corpsman with the Navy and the Marines for three years. When he arrived at the island of Tinian, he was assigned to a Military Government Unit which cared for the medical needs of thousands of Japanese and Korean civilians. After 6 months of this duty, he was assigned to the newly constructed Navy Hospital. This large hospital received the wounded from Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The hospital was located right next to the B29 air base where staff of the hospital could watch the hundreds of B29 planes take off every day. Suddenly, the war was over with the dropping of the Atom Bomb. He attended New York University, New York College of Music. He received his bachelor and masters of Music Education from Drake University in Des Moines, IA. He did graduate work at the University of Colorado and University of Iowa. John taught Music in Iowa for 44 years. He was the director of the Clinton High Acappella choir for 39 years retiring in 1995. He also directed the Clinton Community Chorus in the “Messiah” for 25 years. John was a bass-baritone soloist and performed many times in the Clinton area. John met many dear friends everywhere he went and enjoyed singing. Most recently, he enjoyed being a part of the choirs for the First United Methodist Church and the First Presbyterian Church in Leavenworth, KS. Visitation will be from 2:00–7:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 21, 2008 at the Clinton Chapel Snell Zornig Funeral Home and Crematory. Funeral services will be 10:30am Monday, December 22, 2008 at the First United Methodist Church, Clinton, Iowa. Burial will be in the Clinton Lawn Cemetery with military honors being conducted by the Clinton AMVETS Post#28. Serving as pallbearers will be Dan DeHaan, Nate DeHaan, Matt DeHaan, Andy DeHaan, Adam DeHaan, Paul Haske and Chris Purdy. Memorials may be sent to Trinity House-Trinity Lutheran Church in Leavenworth, KS or to the First United Methodist Church in Clinton, IA.
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