High school band director lost his parents in a car crash—his students’ gesture to honor them left him in tears
Moving on after the loss of a loved one can be a challenging experience. At such times, support and comfort from other people can mean the world. A band director from Cooper High School was devastated after he lost his parents in a car crash. The loss felt monumental as he was really close to his parents and had followed in their footsteps and made a career in music. However, the man, Markus Hahn, hadn't expected to receive so much support from his students, who helped him heal, per Land of 10,000 Stories.
The man's dad, Richard Hahn, had been a band director for Forest Lake High School for 29 years, while his mom, Jeanette, had been a middle school choir director. His grandpa was a band director as well. So Markus had fond memories attached to music and decided to become a band director just like his dad. "One of my earliest memories is sitting on my dad's shoulders as he went through his marching band," the son recounted. The couple never missed any of their son's concerts throughout the years. "They always showed up. They were his best friends," the man's wife, Jennifer, revealed as tears streamed down her face. "When I had my first job at Triton High School in Southern Minnesota, my parents drove an hour and a half and an hour and a half back for every concert."
Markus's dad was his sounding board and he was used to calling the old man every day on his way back home from work. He would discuss music, helping kids and "ways to inspire them," per his wife Jennifer. So it hit him hard when he lost his parents all of a sudden in a car crash in the fall of 2024. The couple was driving to a funeral when a dump truck hit their car at an intersection, per the outlet. "It was a couple of weeks into our season," Gabe Cummings, a band member, recalled. The band felt the loss personally as they had grown quite close to the family. "He would talk about them in band every day." DJ Cannon, another band member, went on, "The best father-son relationship I have ever seen."
So the band thought of a way to honor their director's parents. "We wore gold ribbons in honor of his parents because they loved the University of Minnesota," Kendall Carscadden, another student, pointed out. The football players also sported gold stickers on their helmets. "They showed up at the wake. I just looked over there and saw a line of my students starting to walk through the door," Markus Hahn fondly remembered. All of the students grieved alongside their director and gave him their much-needed support. Markus ended up conducting the spring concert and played "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the finale, something his dad did for all of his concerts. He even used his dad's baton.
The man and his sister, Laurie, established a scholarship fund for musically inclined students in their parents' name. The Richard and Jeanette Hahn Scholarship Fund was established for students pursuing music education at the University of Minnesota, where the parents went to. A fundraiser was started on GoFundMe for the same. The page managed to raise $11,390 out of the $18,000 goal. "We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and grief for our parents. They would be humbled to know the reach of their legacies," the siblings remarked.