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Warren J. “Buzz” Haeger, 82, of Oak Brook, Illinois died on Saturday, November 3, 2007 at Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove, of complications due to multiple surgeries and procedures over the past two months.
He was born on October 24, 1925 at the West Suburban Hospital, Oak Park, Illinois to Ethel O. (Mohr) and Milton O. Haeger (both deceased) of LaGrange Park, Illinois. He had two brothers, Robert M. “Moose” Haeger (deceased) and Milton R. Haeger, and one sister, Phyllis M. Haeger (deceased). He grew up in LaGrange, attended public schools until his second year of high school when he transferred to Western Military Academy, Alton, Illinois and was graduated in 1943. He enrolled at Purdue University and was drafted after ½ semester. He joined the U. S. Marine Corps and served until honorably discharged in 1946. He returned to Purdue and graduated in 1950 with a B.S. in Engineering. He went to work at his father’s business, Abel-Howe, in Forest Park, Illinois and then enrolled at Illinois Institute of Technology where he received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1952. In 1957, he met and married Jean L. Malmstin and they had two children, Diane A. Welter and Mark W. Haeger.
He worked in his father’s overhead crane business while in college and eventually went out on his own to start a real estate company and become an industrial real estate broker, a business he served and worked in every day until his health began to give out in August of this year.
He was an avid baseball player, barbershop singer, arranger, director, coach, contest judge, MC, guitarist, and quartet champion, appearing in over 1000 shows throughout his long career. He played baritone saxophone with and arranged music for the Halls of Montezuma Marine Corps “big” band during his service tour. While serving with the Marines, he had occasion to work with many different professional musicians and stars, including the Alvino Ray and Artie Shaw Bands, Ava Gardner, Donald O’Connor, Frank Sinatra, Rosie Greer, Bob Hope, Debbie Reynolds, Loretta Young, Mel Tormé, the Meltones, the DeMarco Sisters, and many others. As a serious musician, he had perfect pitch, and always “heard” the entire arrangement in his head before he put it down on paper. In addition, he has written over 300 barbershop and modern vocal arrangements. He was named to the barbershop Hall of Fame in 2005 and the 2006 Association of International Champions president’s award for his work throughout his life. He was a major supporter of the Youth In Harmony program for the Barbershop Harmony Society and specifically for the Illinois District. He holds the distinction of being the youngest international competition judge when he was 23 years old, and has been an international medallist earning several medals until 1965 when his quartet “The Four Renegades” won the coveted gold medal at the international convention in Boston. His quartet went on several USO tours where they entertained at hospitals, particularly in contagious wards. He sang in fifteen different quartets, winning the international gold again in 1994 as a senior competitor in the “New and Improved Industrial Strength Mini Chorus”.
He played saxophone, clarinet, guitar, and flute. He was an organist, pilot, golfer, businessman, truck driver, auxiliary police officer, movie theater projectionist, and even worked for the Aurora and Elgin Railroad, switching cars.
He is survived by his wife, Jean L. (Malmstin) Haeger, his daughter Diane A. Welter and her husband John Welter; his son, Mark W. Haeger, one grandson Joshua R. Meyer and his brother Milton R. Haeger. |
