Former Sherman (TX) choir director Duane Gohlke dies

BY KATHY WILLIAMS

SHERMAN, TX — Generations of Sherman High School choir alumni
mourned the passing Monday of Duane Gohlke, who directed choirs at
Piner Middle School before moving to SHS in 1972.

At a reunion of former SHS Choir members last summer, family and
friends took the opportunity to honor Mr. Gohlke and express to him
in person how much they valued his influence in their lives. On
Tuesday, many commiserated with each other through a special
website about their mutual loss.

Mr. Gohlke died Monday in a Plano hospital. He was 65.

Although they expressed sadness, his students referred often to
his large, sometimes quirky and always unique sense of humor. They
also noted his huge talent and the enthusiasm with which he
developed the talent of his students. Some followed his steps into
the teaching profession.

Laura Goodman Dominick is one of the students Mr. Gohlke
inspired to become a teacher. After singing in the SHS choir, she
did her student teaching with him.

“Mr. Gohlke was a very inspirational man to so many people,”
Dominick said. “He made us laugh. He made us cry. He made us strive
to be more than we thought we could be and he wouldn’t accept less
than what he knew we could be. He made us into better people, I
think. Especially, he made us laugh.”

Mr. Gohlke established the tradition of handing out many, many
“trophies” each year to spread accolades around to most of the
choir members, and even parents and other band boosters. Choir
members spent days making the trophies, sticks of wood with all
manner of things glued to them. Some of the trophies were inside
jokes of incidents that happened on choir trips. Some were just
tokens of affection the band had for its members and
supporters.