Delores A. Haag

Delores Ann Nicklaus Haag Obituary

Born May 24, 1938 the third child of Mildred and Edward Nicklaus. Delores had two siblings, Earlene Hague and Edward Nicklaus. Her parents and sister proceeded Delores in death.

She grew up in Peabody, Kansas and lived on a farm which involved working in the garden, working in the fields, milking cows, gathering eggs, and all other aspects that come with maintaining a farm. Life was very busy. Growing up on a farm taught Delores the value of hard work.

Childhood days were filled with family gatherings, checking on the cattle in the pastures and then fishing in the ponds, 4th of July celebrations, playing with friends and overnights with friends. Sometimes on Saturday afternoon her parents would go into town. While her parents would visit friends, the kids would go to the movies. The stars of those movies were Gene Audrey, Roy and Dale Rogers. The movie was always a western movie.

When Delores was in the 5th grade, she joined a 4-H club. Her 4-H sewing experience created a lifetime of enjoyment. Her first project was making an apron. After she was married her sewing skills made it possible for her to sew clothes for herself and the children. She would sew dresses, shirts and even suits. This continued her entire life. Delores made many quilts which she shared with her family. Later she began making quilts to give to charities. She then began designing purses.

Delores was an avid crafter. She made many cross-stitch pictures (most of which were given to her family), many, many afghans which were then donated to the Rescue Mission, Ronald McDonalds House, Every Women's Resource Center, Cancer Center and Blinky Blanket. Of course, her family benefited with many afghans as well. Delores also knitted many sweaters and items for her family.

Delores began piano lessons in the third grade. Peabody was a very small town. So with the permission of the grade school, during the noon hour, she would walk to her piano teacher's house for a piano lesson. During high school she went to Wichita for her piano lessons. She also worked closely with her Peabody piano teacher. She would teach the beginners for a year or two and then they would become a student of her teacher. When she was a freshman in high school, she began taking organ lessons from the organist at church. Her ability to play the organ provided her many experiences. She played for churches for 60 years. She also played for weddings and funerals.

During her high school years, she accompanied the choral groups. She also began substituting for the church organist. Her dad played the violin so they often played violin/organ solos. Her Dad also sang in a quartet which she often accompanied.

In 4th grade she began taking trumpet lessons. She continued to take lessons and played in the junior high band and the high school band and marching band. In high school she was a member of the trumpet trio. She was also a member of the jazz group. In her senior year the trumpet trio earned a 1st place at the state competition. At regional and state competitions she would accompany choral groups, instrumental solos, vocal solos and perform her own piano solo.

Delores graduated high school in May 1956. In June 1956, with aspirations of becoming a concert pianist, she headed to Chicago to attend the Sherwood Music Conservatory. However, after 3 months of doing nothing but practicing piano and taking lessons, she decided a Concert Pianist just wasn't going to be her life's profession.

So, in the fall of 1956 she headed to Emporia State College. Elementary Education was her major. At Emporia State, she continued to take organ lessons from a renowned organ teacher.

She joined the Kappa Phi Sorority. Many hours were spent at the house involved in the many activities of the sorority.

She graduated from Emporia State in August 1959.

In the fall of 1957, Delores met a country boy by the name of Robert Haag. They were married on October 11, 1958 in Emporia, Kansas. To this union was born 4 children: Richard, Christine, Randall and Ronald. Robert preceded Delores in death on April 13, 2018. They would have celebrated 60 years of marriage the following October.

Later they were blessed with grandchildren, Dakota, Clay, Tira, Cassidy, and Chad, a granddaughter-in-law, Jessica, and a great-granddaughter, Ellen. Her greatest joy was attending their many activities and supporting them as they became adults. She was blessed in that she was able to spend many hours with her grandchildren. They took trips together, had special holiday parties, camp experiences and time in the park. They always tried to eat at "Our" special table by "the" rock in Gage Park. They also had special "girls days" going to movies and swimming in the back yard. These are all her special memories. Each grandchild was special to her in their own unique way.

After they were married Bob and Delores moved to a farm near Olpe, Kansas. They began raising registered Angus Cattle. They would show their cattle at the County Fair, State Fair, Mid-American Fair and American Royal. Those were busy days. The show cattle were kept in a fan cooled barn and brushed and groomed daily. All the hard work paid off as they won many, many awards. They continued raising Angus Cattle until 1996.

Delores' teaching career began in 1962 in Olpe, Kansas. She had 2 babies both still in diapers. The school called her on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. They wanted her to start the day after Thanksgiving vacation. Of course, she was getting Thanksgiving Dinner ready for Bob's family. She told them there was no way she could fix the dinner (that was in the day of no catering service, no prepared foods, everything was made from scratch), find a babysitter and prepare lessons. They said they had a babysitter all lined up. So being young and naïve she told them she would start on Monday. She taught 5th and 6th grades—a total of 42 students. That was in the time where the teachers were with their class all day. No special teachers (art, music, PE), no planning periods, no lunch breaks, no recess break.

After 3 years, she quit that position and became a housewife. Soon, Randy and Ron were born to the family.

In the fall of 1972, Delores obtained a teaching position in Meriden, Kansas. After 2 years she began teaching at schools in the Topeka School District. The family moved to Topeka and began their life in the BIG CITY. Her career involved always being involved with the music and accompanying the choral groups. After teaching elementary classes for many years Delores decided to go back to college and get her Master's Degree in Special Education.

She attended Washburn University, continued to teach, was raising a family and was church organist. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1988. This degree was her ticket to obtain a position as a Consulting Special Education Teacher for Topeka School District. She continued in that position until the spring of 1996, thus finishing a 25 year teaching career.

In 1988, Robert and Delores established a company, R&H Concrete, Inc. Robert was the CEO and Delores served as secretary. Robert retired in Jan 2016 and Delores retired October 2007. In 1988, Randy and Ron joined the company as presidents. The company was located at their home place and the office was in the house. Years later they bought an office in Lawrence, Kansas. Starting and owning a company proved to be very hard work. It requires almost a 24/7 commitment. Many social effects were unattended, many trips cancelled, many week-ends were devoted to the business, many evenings were filled with interviews or talking to customers about house plans. This all paid off as the company was very successful and became known for its workers' excellent work ethics.

During her entire time in the Topeka community she continued to play the organ in many different churches. This involved playing for church services, weddings and funerals. In 2014 due to cancer, she had to retire from playing, thus ending a 60 year career as an organist.

As she began her older years, her music and sewing provided many hours of enjoyment. Her hobbies included sewing, doing counted cross stitch, reading, playing cards, crocheting, traveling, camping, fishing and football, baseball and basketball games. Everything was scheduled around her watching the games on TV. She loved going to KU and Royals games to watch them play.

In 1996, Delores joined the Women of the Moose organization. This organization provided many lifetime friendships and many opportunities to share her talents. Many times, she was called upon to play the piano. She held many chairmen positions, was secretary, Junior Regent (VP), Senior Regent (president), Junior Graduate Regent (Past president), and Deputy Grand Regent (the highest office at the local level). She was able to travel to the Moose International Conventions and also went to a state conference twice a year. Besides attending meetings, many wonderful hours were spent with her Moose friends. Spending time with just the girls chatting, playing cards and laughing was always one of the highlights of her year.

At age 80 she became secretary for the United Methodist Women. She enjoyed this position.

Her family and friends have many special memories to hold onto forever. From the Good Ole Boys on Tuesday nights at the Haag house, Halloween parties full of themed games and snacks, a very competitive game of unwrapping a ball of tape full of goodies at Christmas, summer days in grandma's pool, homemade cinnamon rolls, scrapple and cookies - Delores filled her family with love and adventure.

She will always be remembered for her strong resilience, constant joy and her love for The Lord.

She is survived by her children, Richard (Robbie) of Eudora, and Randy (Lisa) and Ron (Robin) of Topeka. She also leaves grandchildren, Dakota and Cassidy of Topeka, Clay of Omaha, Tira of Cleveland, Chad (Jessica), and great granddaughter Ellen, of Kansas City. She is also survived by her brother Edward (Roselyn) of Garden City and many nieces, nephews and friends.

The family will receive friends at Parker Price Funeral Home on Saturday, August 7, 2021 from 10:00 am till 11:00 am. Funeral ceremony will follow starting at 11:00 am. Internment will follow at Grantville Cemetery. Memorial contributions can be made to The Topeka Humane Society in Topeka, KS.