IN MEMORIAM We honor these music educators who touched so many lives and will continue to be greatly missed…
Gerald Gleason • Gerald “Jerry” Gleason, 80, passed away on February 16, 2016. Jerry was a lifelong music educator. He taught for over 40 years in both public and private schools. He graduated from Winona High School and earned his bachelor of music education degree from Winona State in 1959. He taught in the school districts of Arcadia, Durand and La Crosse and was the principal of the Catholic School in Arcadia for a number of years. He served on numerous WSMA committees throughout the years and enjoyed being an adjudicator for Solo & Ensemble events. He was married to Karen (Meistad) for 47 years and the proud father of two children – Tim Gleason and Chris Gleason, both who are music educators.
Susan Halloway • Susan Halloway, 61, passed away on August 23, 2015. Sue got her music education degree at UW-Madison and began teaching at Sauk Prairie High School in 1979, retiring in 2012. Her marching band
competed in the St. Petersburg Festival in 1982, played under the state capitol rotunda for a Clinton-Gore appearance in 1992 and marched in the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2008. She and her colleague, choral director Karen Luher, created the Sauk Prairie Show Choir in 1982. She also helped organize five summer session alumni show choir European tours. In 1999 she co-created the Fab 50’s Live! Show, which ran at Chula Vista Resort through 2007. In addition to teaching, conducting and playing flute, Sue was a gifted athlete: a first rate golfer and world class bowler, three-time national collegiate women’s champion and ranked 4th in the world.
Ann Dane Harsevoort • Ann Dane Harsevoort, 88, passed away on July 8, 2015. She began her 62-year teaching career in Clinton in the fall of 1949, building the band program from a handful of musicians to an
unprecedented number of students. In the 1940s it was uncommon for girls to play the trombone, not to mention become a band director, but that didn’t stop Ann Dane. She was chosen for the Canadian-American All Girl Band, touring Canada and the Northwestern U.S.; then she was chosen to play in a 30-piece All College Variety Show Orchestra, entertaining the United States Overseas Armed Forces in the 1950s. She was the choir director at Clinton Baptist Church and also a member of the Beloit/Janesville Symphony Orchestra for many years and gave her heart to the Clinton High School band program.
Robert Oftedahl • Robert “Bob” Oftedahl, 73, Kewaunee, passed away on January 30, 2016. Bob graduated from Tomah High School and Eau Claire State College. He married Judy Geurkink on January 2, 1965.
He began a career teaching music in the Wittenberg Schools. Later, the couple moved to Kewaunee, where he served as band director at the middle schools for 32 years. He served as a master adjudicator for WSMA Solo & Ensemble festivals throughout Wisconsin. Bob’s passion for music also led him to teach piano and guitar, serve as organist and choir director at Community Congregational Church, sing tenor with The Peninsula Singers and lead the infamous troupe known as the Kewaunee Chambermaids.
Calvin L. Siegrist • Calvin L. Siegrist, 88, passed away on May 11, 2015. Cal earned his bachelor’s degree in music at Lawrence College and master’s in education at UW-Oshkosh. He took his first teaching position at
Peshtigo High School, where he met Judy Brown. Judy and Cal were married in 1955, sharing over 59 years together. He played in the Green Bay Packers Band for many seasons during the Lombardi era. In 1963, he became the first band director at the newly opened Bay Port High School, where he co-wrote the Bay Port fight song, “Loyal to Bay Port.” After Cal retired he continued working as an educator in music at the Oneida Nation School, Holy Family, Annunciation, Holy Cross and St. Matthews grade schools. He led the Bethel Brass, a church band that included many family members. He was also a member of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.
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April 2016
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