MADISON - Donald Heeren passed away on September 21, 2014 while visiting Monroe, WI. He was born in Monroe on December 4, 1940, the son of Roy and Viola Heeren, and graduated from Monroe High School in 1958 after helping found the "Monroe Amateur Rocket Society" (MARS) and excelling at musical performance in tuba and piano. He went on to study music performance at the University of Wisconsin, paying his way through college by playing jazz bass.
After Donald graduated in 1963, he studied tuba with the renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra tuba player, Arnold Jacobs, and played with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and Chicago Brass Quintet. While Jacobs was on sabbatical, he also played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and is featured in two classic CSO recordings of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain.
In 1965, Donald moved to Denver, where he was an avid outdoorsman and the principal tuba player for the Denver Symphony Orchestra (now the Colorado Symphony) and the Denver Brass Quintet. While there, he met his wife, Norma, a teacher in the Jefferson County Public Schools. After they married in 1970, the two moved to New York City, so that Donald could attend the Germain School of Photography. He graduated with honors in 1974, the same year that his son, Geoffrey, was born. He pursued his career and passion for photography as an artist, portraitist, commercial photographer, and teacher - first establishing a photography studio in Loveland, Colorado and then Madison, Wisconsin, where he also taught photography at the Madison Area Technical College.
Donald and Norma lived together in Madison for thirty-seven years. He was an active member of the Bethel Lutheran Church, where he led the camera club, and he also volunteered at the Madison Historical Society, working to digitize the Society's collection of early Madison photographs. He combined his love of the outdoors and photography with a focus on nature photography and color abstractions - work that he exhibited in Madison and Milwaukee.
Donald is survived by his wife, Norma, son, Geoffrey, and daughter-in-law, Saba. Visitation will be held Friday, September 26 at Bethel Lutheran Church at 10:00 a.m. with the service to follow at 11:00 and the burial thereafter at the Forest Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice.
After Donald graduated in 1963, he studied tuba with the renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra tuba player, Arnold Jacobs, and played with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and Chicago Brass Quintet. While Jacobs was on sabbatical, he also played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and is featured in two classic CSO recordings of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain.
In 1965, Donald moved to Denver, where he was an avid outdoorsman and the principal tuba player for the Denver Symphony Orchestra (now the Colorado Symphony) and the Denver Brass Quintet. While there, he met his wife, Norma, a teacher in the Jefferson County Public Schools. After they married in 1970, the two moved to New York City, so that Donald could attend the Germain School of Photography. He graduated with honors in 1974, the same year that his son, Geoffrey, was born. He pursued his career and passion for photography as an artist, portraitist, commercial photographer, and teacher - first establishing a photography studio in Loveland, Colorado and then Madison, Wisconsin, where he also taught photography at the Madison Area Technical College.
Donald and Norma lived together in Madison for thirty-seven years. He was an active member of the Bethel Lutheran Church, where he led the camera club, and he also volunteered at the Madison Historical Society, working to digitize the Society's collection of early Madison photographs. He combined his love of the outdoors and photography with a focus on nature photography and color abstractions - work that he exhibited in Madison and Milwaukee.
Donald is survived by his wife, Norma, son, Geoffrey, and daughter-in-law, Saba. Visitation will be held Friday, September 26 at Bethel Lutheran Church at 10:00 a.m. with the service to follow at 11:00 and the burial thereafter at the Forest Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice.