A Tribute to a Good Man

  This past week, a good man fought a battle and lost. A good man was ripped out of my life. A good man is now dancing with loved ones. A good man will never die, he will always live on. My grandpa was truly an amazing man; he touched so many lives and will be missed by all. 

My grandpa was a music teacher in many different places around Iowa. He taught in several small towns, then spent a long time teaching in Washington, Iowa, where he was the vocal director. Around the time that Kennedy High School was due to open, Grandpa, moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa with his wife and three children. He started his journey here at Washington High School, only teaching there for a year, before Kennedy opened. He applied and was accepted at Kennedy as the first vocal director in 1967. He was the man who created the foundation for all of Kennedy’s success in the future. Without my grandpa and grandma, there might not be an original fight song and Alma Mater. Our fight song might be a song borrowed from another school, but instead Mr. Feuerhelm wanted to create a legacy for his sons and daughter and their families to live up to. What big shoes I now have to fill. Who could possibly do anything greater than set up a school for success? Just look at all the trophies overflowing in the music departments; that all started with my grandpa. 

My grandpa didn’t stop with the fight song and Alma Mater. He decided to set up a new tradition ; he created the first show choir west of the Mississippi. Happiness Machine was the original name but that was shot down quickly by the students. This group turned into Happiness Incorporated shortly thereafter. This first show choir was completely different than it is today. It was set up as a way for kids to get involved in music and to just have fun. The first group wasn’t even involved in any competitions, as there weren’t any competitors, and everything they did would be an example for others to follow. Every jazz hand performed would be a basis and every kick and big hit would be a building block that others would improve and copy. Another difference from show choirs today is that there wasn’t a whole team devoted to costumes. In fact, the first dresses ever to be debuted in Happiness Inc. were bought at K-Mart. I have never heard of any other vocal director creating an activity that was made simply to get kids involved in popular music. My grandpa truly wanted to try to give every student the feeling that music gave him. He wanted to share his passion for music and he wanted to pass it on through many different generations. My grandpa gave the keys to the car of music for others to take the wheel to prove what they could do. 

  After his great success at Kennedy, he moved on to Grant Wood Elementary to become the music teacher there. This was the longest part of his journey in teaching music and he would eventually retire there. He wrote a Grant Wood loyalty song, too. Many people that I met over the past week that had him as a teacher all had great things to say about him. The most frequent comment was that he was passionate about music. In the time that I knew and loved my grandfather, I can tell you he was more than just passionate about music; my grandpa loved. That’s just it, the only way to describe him, all he did was love, that’s what made him great. He truly cared for his family and friends and would do anything for us. I can only hope to continue to make him proud.
        I am doing my best to keep my grandpa alive through my music. We had a great connection through music and he loved to hear every note I played, whether it was correct or not. I loved to play for him because he was always grateful. I knew if he was in the audience I would always have at least one fan by the end of the performance. I would get comments like, “How do you do that?”

         “You sound great, I loved hearing you play again.” 

         “You’ll do great, I know it.” 

I truly miss and long to hear those words in my ear again. Without my grandpa, I might not have ever gone into music; he was and always will be a true inspiration to me. No one can do what my grandpa did. He was my leader, he is what I want to copy. To the very end of his life he believed in me and wanted to see me succeed. Everything I do from this point on in music is through him, I love him and he will always be with me for every note I caress into the ears of my audience.

  Not only was he a music man, he was my favorite grandpa. Over the past 16 years I developed a relationship with him that a tank couldn’t pull apart if it tried. I remember when I was about 4 or 5 years old I would go over to his house to spend time with him over the summer. I remember that my parents would drop me off and leave me to hang out with my grandpa for the whole day. Each day, after lunch, around noon it was nap time. He would take me down stairs and sing me to sleep with “Old McDonald”. I loved this even though I didn’t realize it at the time. Every once and a while he would say a cow said ‘oink’. I’m sure he did this to see if I was paying attention or to see if I was really falling asleep, he caught me every time as I would realize the accidental and spring up to tell him the right answer. Gramps did this kind of thing with me all the time, until the very end he had a humor around him that was precious to me and I will miss it greatly. I always remember that he had a cookie jar, and every time I was about to leave he would say, “I wonder if the cookie monster got in here again.” That was my cue to race over to the counter to grab a cookie out of the jar. 

  In the recent years, my grandpa has become even more special to me. Gramps would have me come over and do simple tasks for him, like change his razor blades. When I got these jobs done in 2 minutes he would look at me, shake his head, and say, “How did you do that so quickly? Your old gramps would be at it for at least 30 minutes.” I would just look at him, smile and reply with, “I’m magican.” We would then both laugh and tease each other for another five minutes or so. Another little tradition, if that’s what you would call it, is that he hated milk so every time we sat down to eat I would say, “What do you want to drink? Milk?” He would laugh and make some witty remark followed by, “I’ll give my portion to you, ‘Lij.” He could always make me laugh, whether it was one of our traditional teases or a completely new phrase never heard before, I always laughed when he was around. If you never had the chance to meet him, I am dearly sorry because he was the funniest comedian the world has ever seen. He was also caring and kind to anyone he talked to, even when he was starting to get older and slightly crazy. I loved him to pieces and he loved me back with the same enthusiasm. 

  My grandfather was a great man, all he wanted to do was set people up for success and he would do anything to see them achieve their goals. My grandpa truly loved to teach kids and had a great passion for music. He was eternally grateful for his family and he always showed his love in every way known to man. There are very few left of the great generation, very few that would do anything to make people succeed. My grandpa was one of the greats and no one will be able to fill his shoes, to take music to his level of success, to love unconditionally and whole heartedly, to do anything for anyone no matter the request, to love his family more than words can express. He is now dancing with my grandma in a better place. Dance away you two!

  Thanks Gramps. Thanks for all the love, inspiration, and lessons I’ll never forget you. I love you, always have, always will.