Harry S. Hefner

HEFNER, Harry S. Kalamazoo Passed away Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at Rose Arbor Hospice Residence. Harry Simon Hefner was born November 20, 1911 in Kalamazoo, MI to the late Roscoe and Clarabel Heiney Hefner. He was the youngest of four children and resided in Kalamazoo until moving as a teenager to Detroit where he attended Cass Tech High School. He returned to Kalamazoo, graduating from Western State College in 1936 and completed his graduate degree in Art at Columbia University in 1939. His teaching experience included public high school, private and public universities and art schools including: Muskegon Public Schools, 1937-38; Skidmore College, New York, 1940; Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1937-39; Harvard University, 1941; University of Vermont, 1954-56; and summer sessions at the University of Michigan Extension classes, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Grand Valley State College and Western Michigan University, 1940-1977. Harry served for four years 1942-46 in the U.S. Army Infantry during World War II. Harry?s story is the story of WMU. He and Leona Adolf Hefner began married life as house parents at Walwood Hall in 1946, returning to Ernest Burnham Hall as resident parents with daughters Holly and Lynne. Their many friends names are etched into the architecture of Western?s campus, as is the art legacy of murals, decorative arts, and paintings, sculpture and stained glass inspired by Harry Hefner, student, art professor and Chairman of the Department of Art. Appointed chairman of the Department of Art upon Miss Siedschlag?s retirement from teaching in 1955, Harry continued to lead until 1965 when he returned to full-time teaching in the Department. Harry was a founding member of the ?depression kids,? a self-named fraternity of artists, emerged as the art club and then the core structure of the Department of Art. Harry challenged and nurtured generation s of students and faculty. He retired from WMU on June 22, 1977, receiving the Alumni Teaching Excellence Award that same year. Harry and Leona are the parents of two wonderful daughters, and two sons-in-law, Holly Art Stephenson of Three Rivers, Lynne Tom Serafin of Union City, and one cherished grandson, Caleb Stephenson. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Jeanette and Lula and by a brother Jack. Harry and Leona have been members of the First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo since 1947. There will be no visitation. Private committal services with military honors will be held at Ft. Custer National Cemetery. A memorial service will be held at 1:00 o?clock Saturday, November 18th at the First Presbyterian Church, 321 W. South St. with the Rev. Kevin Holley officiating. A time of fellowship will be held immediately following this service. Memorial contributions in Harry?s memory may be made to Rose Arbor Hospice Care Residence or to the WMU Foundation designated for the Harry S. Hefner Excellence in Art Scholarship. Envelopes will be available at the Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Westside Chapel, 3926 S. 9th St. 343-1508 and at the memorial service.