Article published Friday, October 9, 2009 ALDA HADDAD, 1923-2009 TPS teacher imparted joy of music to students
Alda Haddad, 86, who taught music to Toledo elementary and high school students, died Tuesday in Marion, Ohio, General Hospital of congestive heart failure.
Formerly of Sylvania Township, she moved three years ago to Marion, where her son, Dale, lives. She retired in 1983 from Rogers High School, where she was choir teacher. A colleague for several years was her son Robert, who was band and orchestra director.
"She was a great support to him in his teaching career," son Ted said. Robert, who later taught at Start High School, was 49 when he died Feb. 25, 2003.
Earlier, Mrs. Haddad was a traveling elementary music teacher.
"She loved everything about music, and she loved imparting that knowledge, and the kids responded to that," said Susan Hanna, a former Rogers teacher and a friend of Robert's whom Mrs. Haddad adopted, informally, as a daughter.
"She was one of those teachers who was firm but fair," Ms. Hanna, a Toledo schools hearing officer, said.
She held leadership posts with the Toledo Symphony League and its Remembrance Fund and the Toledo Youth Orchestra.
She was born in Beaver Falls, Pa., June 28, 1923, the daughter of Ethel and Dale Douthett. She grew up in Toledo and was a 1941 graduate of Scott High School.
Her mother was a pianist. "Innately, she loved music," her son Ted said.
Mrs. Haddad received a bachelor's degree from Bowling Green State University and taught in the Perrysburg schools. She received a master's degree from Ohio State University in 1969. She was a member of First Baptist Church for 73 years and sang in the choir for 50 years.
"She was just a fabulous listener," Ms. Hanna said. "She was vivacious. She was unbelievably bright right until the end."
She and her husband, Theodore, married in 1949. He died in 1986.
Surviving are her sons, Ted and Dale Haddad; brother, Walton Douthett, and three grandchildren.
Services will be at 1:30 p.m. today in the Ansberg-West Funeral Home.
The family suggests tributes to the Robert and Alda Haddad Remembrance Fund of the Toledo Symphony League. Permanent Link
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