Donald Lowell Haber
Donald Lowell Haber, 92, long time South Dakota educator and rancher, died in his home in Sioux Falls after a lengthy illness Sunday, April 4, 1993. Memorial services were held Wednesday, April 7, at the First Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls with Reverend William Meyer officiating. Interment was in Fairview Cemetery, White, SD.
He had spent more than forty years in schools in Eastern South Dakota as superintendent, basketball coach and math and science teacher, including the towns of White, Thomas, Amherst, Bradley, Artesian, Rutland, Hecla, Andover, Kidder, Henry and Raymond.
After a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease in 1981, he went to Tucson, AZ where research in Alzheimers was being done at the university, and participated in many of their research projects.
In 1988, after spending the summer in South Dakota, he was too ill to return to Tucson and he and his wife settled in Sioux Falls. With the help of visiting nurses, Senior Home Companions, and family, he was able to remain in his home for the duration of the disease.
Donald Haber was born December 14, 1900 to Theodore and Birdie Haber in Brookings. When Donald was five, the family moved to a farm southeast of White from where he attended a rural grade school, White High School, and SDSU in Brookings, graduating with a degree in Science and a Master's degree in Education. As a teenager, he was confirmed in the Methodist Church in White and the church remained a vital part of his live.
He married Doris Nicholas June 11, 1944, in the Congregational Church in Ree Heights. They had a daughter and three sons.
He served in the Army Signal Corp during World War II and had belonged to the American Legion, Lions, Masons, SDEA, NEA, Retired Teachers, and Farmer's Union. He had been a Boy Scout leader and served on Township and church boards.
Besides his wife, he is survived by his three sons and their wives: Denton and Gaylene of Sioux Falls, Douglas and Brenda of Sioux Falls, and Joel and Tammy of Redfield, nine grandchildren, three in each family, Chad, Heidi and John, Stacey, Dustin and Colby, Donald, Lacey and Austin. He is also survived by a brother, Horie, and a sister, Rilla Simmons, both in the Care Center in White.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Doris Tompkins of Brookings, and daughter, Daphne.
Memorials may be made to the Siouxland Chapter of the Alzheimer's Society. Visiting Nurses Association, Senior Home Companions, McKennan Volunteer Hospice, and or the Sioux Falls First Presbyterian Church Building Fund.
