Birth date: Jun 12, 1925 Death date: Dec 17, 2008
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 B Read Obituary
John is a legend - my mother was in his first choir at CHS and my brother sisters and I were also fortunate to have been blessed by his instruction.
John taught us all through his love of music and I can't think of a period in my life where much time has gone by without recalling the good memories of choir days.
He gave us a gift that will last a lifetime.
Thank you, John, for your wonderful life. You were and are an inspiration to many. You taught a love for music and for life that I will never forget.
So many memories from my high school experience are related to my participation in Choir with Mr. DeHaan. I still catch myself singing familiar songs from my choir days and have never forgotten the lessons he taught. I will be keeping the family in thoughts and prayers.
I was blessed to have John DeHaan in my life and in the life of my children. In addition I student-taught High School Choir under him. He was a mentor and a friend. He later asked me to teach along side him and I was honored. He inspired me to become a better teacher and brought the gift of music to all who knew him or knew of him.
Moving from a large city to Clinton and discovering the wealth of music education available to our children was incredible.
God has another Bass for his choir and we surely will miss him.
Mr. DeHaan was a gem of a teacher. He was always able to pull the best out of his students. I have fond memories of walking with him home and his wife having hot chocolate waiting for us.
John DeHaan was an important part of our lives in our younger years. He and Betty were good friends of my folks (Marion & Elizabeth Howard), he sang for my dad's funeral and our daughter's wedding. I was his accompanist for CHS A'Capella Choir in 1957-58 and also accompanied him for some of his solo engagements. We ran into him occasionally in the following years...he always had a big smile to match his majestic voice.
Larry and Robert and families, you have our deepest sympathy in your loss. We will always remember your folks fondly.
It would be about this time every-other-year that Mr. DeHaan would lead the CHS Choir on an adventure to Washington DC where we would have the honor of singing in so many wonderful places.
His smile, his laugh, his look of peace when hearing beautiful music, and even his stern looks when something was off-key will always be embedded with great memories of an outstanding music program at CHS.
To his family, deepest sympathies. I hope it is a comfort to know the thousands of hearts he touched through music and education.
I have thought about Mr. DeHaan many, many times through the years. I just spoke about him in my own choir at church Wednesday night. I had a very rough time during high school and he was a strong, positive, kind man. I believe it was freshman year, due to scheduling conflicts with my classes I was going to drop out of choir. Mr. DeHaan came to me as he did 4 of my other wonderful classmates, and placed us in A'capella Junior/Senior choir. Scared out of my mind, I didn't think I'd make it. Being with those people and having him there daily saved my life. Literally. Unfortunately, he will never know just how much. Music is my life and he saw something in me I didn't. He demanded respect and made us better people just in knowing him. He encouraged us to become more then we thought we could ever be and took the time to allow us to grow. I don't know how many times he stated he would retire after each year at CHS, but we all hoped he would continue on forever. Just like today, 20+ years later....I know he will continue on in my heart, and in heaven. Thank you Mr. DeHaan...you are loved. Mary Ellen
All I can remember my brother talking about enjoying in his time at CHS was Mr. DeHaan and choir. He was greatly influenced and inspired by him. Paul became a singer and performer before he died in 1995. He was able to live his dream for a short while thanks to the teachings and inspiration of this great man. Thank you Mr. DeHaan and thank you to the family for letting the students of CHS benefit from his wisdom for so many years.
I sang in the Acapella Choir at Clinton High School under Mr. DeHaan's direction all three years of high school. I was also part of the Triple Trio he formed - we sang for special assemblies and throughout Clinton. Mr. DeHaan inspired us to sing well and to feel the music. He was a task master at detail - that's why we all loved him. WE knew we were singing better with his direction. I'm so sad to hear of his death. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
