John Thomas Haight

Short Biography

Birth: 1876Death: Aug. 3, 1965Fort AtkinsonJefferson CountyWisconsin, USARockford Illinois, Register Republic Aug 5, 1965John Thomas Haight, the man who founded Rockford's first high school band - believed to have been the first in the nation - and whose determination made it one of the most famous, died at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Fort Atkinson (Wis) Memorial Hospital after an illness of a week, he was 89.Mr. Haight came to Rockford in 1907 to teach commercial arithmetic and geography at Rockford High School. He called on 20 boys to come to a band organization meeting on May 23, 1907, and set to work through the summer to train the boys to play for the first football game in September.Mr. Haight started from scratch on his band, since most of his volunteers never had played band instruments. But with 20 instruments that were either owned or borrowed by Mr. Haight, he started a tradition that soon caught on throughout the state and spread to the entire nation.Uniforms for that first band were donated by Col.George D. Roper. After four successful years, the high school began to offer academic credit for band work, a policy that has been followed eversince. Under Mr. Haight's direction, the band grew to 95 members and won national fame."The Grand Old Man of High School Bands" was born in Dane County Wisconsin, near what is now called Rockdale. He graduated from Fort Atkinson high school in 1894 and from the old Whitewater Normal College. In 1899 he began his life work of teaching as a substitute teacher while at Normal.His first permanent assignment was teaching the sixth, seventh, and eight grades at Fontana, Wis. Later, he was principal of Cambridge (Wis.) high school, and in 1907 he came to Rockford High School.Mr. Haight stayed in Rockford for 34 years until his retirement in 1941. On his retirement, several thousand Rockford citizens gathered in the armory to honor him. He has been featured as guest conductor of the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, and the Old Timers Band in Fort Atkinson, Wis.After his retirement in 1941 Mr. Haight and his wife, Augusta moved back to his ancestral farm on the shores of Lake Koshkonong, Wis.He was an honorary member of the Rockford Rotary Club and was a member of the University Club and Elks Club of Rockford.Mr. Haight is survived by his widow Augusta; two sons, John T. Haight Jr, Rockford, and Edward A. Haight, Kenilworth; a brother, W. Harrison Haight, Cambridge, Wis.; eight grand-children, and six great grand-children.Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Royal F. Haynes Funeral Home, Fort Atkinson, Wis. Burial will be in Lakeview Cemetery, Fort Atkinson.