IN MEMORIAM: David A. Haller Jr., Faculty | 1923–2011 | By Anne K. Stetson ’80 David A. Haller Jr. , 87, died on February 1, 2011, in Hyannis, Mass. Dave taught at Loomis for 39 years, coached the boys varsity wrestling team and served as assistant coach of the boys track team, and served as head of Warham Hall for many years. Born in 1923 to Dr. David A. Haller and Louise (Wilson) Haller, Dave grew up in Rochester, N.Y. His lifelong love of travel and adventure was fueled by a chapter driving an ambulance with the American Field Service for the British Army in Burma during World War II. A 1948 graduate of the University of Rochester, Dave began teaching history at Loomis in 1950. He quickly found the school to be his vocational home, and he taught there until 1989. Dave loved history, which provided ample room for his talents as a storyteller, but he loved Loomis more, so when the school developed a need for a mathematics teacher, he stepped into the breach. When he retired in 1989, Dave held the chair as Clark Foundation Mathematics Instructor. Dave shared a love for dogs, nature, and wildlife with students and colleagues alike throughout his life. Peter B. Coley ’81 recalls his teacher and friend as “a kind and generous man with nobility and a great sense of historical facts; Dave knew a great deal about almost everything — of course, math — but his depth of knowledge spanned the subjects of nature, evolution, ornithology, Burma, the First and Second World Wars, geo-politics, St. Croix, East Africa, photography, literature, poetry, New York Times crossword puzzles, the lore of the Loomis Archives and the entire history of the The Loomis Institute like no one else — and so many other broad topics. He was a rare bird from an era of oldschool scholars and prep school masters.” Dave was rarely seen without a white Sealyham terrier close on his heels. Former Loomis Chaffee master Dominic Failla recalls, “My most vivid memory of David was our outing to explore the Italian section of Hartford. This journey provided an opening for David to discuss the loss of his younger sister, who had died as a young child. I felt his profound loss and urged David to establish an ongoing dialogue with her — to talk to her — and give voice to his sense of sadness and loss. It was this conversation that came to represent a binding moment and a moving experience for both of us. I shall always remember David going to his classroom, with [his dog] Peppercorn following him, to do what he loved — teach.” From the banks of the Island, Dave had ample opportunity to explore not one but two rivers in a canoe, from which he could indulge his passion for bird-watching. His prodigious bird-feeders were popular not only with winged creatures, but also with squirrels, which led to an epic chapter of squirrel trapping and redistribution; a lesser mortal would have simply engaged in squirrel management with a BB gun or worse. Dave’s colorful and frequently irreverent sense of humor was inflected by an adventurous spirit that led him to far-flung places throughout his life, whether traveling with renowned bird expert Roger Tory Peterson in Antarctica, going on safari in Kenya, building a bungalow on St. Croix, or photographing blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos. He peppered his teaching with tales of these travels and the characters he met along the way. He was the epitome of the schoolmaster — a disciplinarian with a gentle
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Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives
He was the epitome of the schoolmaster — a disciplinarian with a gentle heart who commanded respect in the classroom through a wellpitched mix of sternness and humor.
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heart who commanded respect in the classroom through a wellpitched mix of sternness and humor. When he retired from Loomis Chaffee in 1989, it was to Chatham that he repaired, revealing a sympathy with another avid sailor, Herman Melville, who wrote that “life is a journey that is homeward bound.” Dave leaves his nephews Scott Tappan ’63 of Chatham, Mass., and John Tappan of Carrboro, N.C.; and a cousin, Robert McNeece of Boxborough, Mass. Donations may be made in his memory to Loomis Chaffee in support of financial aid or to the Chatham Conservation Foundation, 104 Crowell Road, Chatham MA 02633.
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