For more information, contact Darnell Holopirek, 620-792-9367.

May 13, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Story prepared by: Linda Jerke

The Barton Community College Foundation presented the 2010 Distinguished Service Award to Clarence A. Haak during Barton’s 40th commencement May 13.

The Distinguished Service Award was created in 1981 by the Barton Community College Foundation to recognize individuals who have shown genuine regard for, and have performed outstanding service to Barton Community College. The Barton Foundation Board of Directors selects the recipient from nominations received.

Haak was born and raised on a farm near Great Bend. After farming with his dad and brother, he began working for the Automotive Parts Company of Great Bend and then for Midlands Automotive out of Omaha, Neb., as the company’s regional manager in Great Bend.

In 1954, he married his lifelong sweetheart, Jeanette Jenisch of Ellinwood. They moved to Denver, Colo., in 1968, and Clarence continued to work in the automotive field. Even though they lived in Denver, both Clarence and Jeanette were very pleased that Barton Community College was opened in 1969 and they continued to follow its growth from its modest beginnings to the outstanding community college it is today.

Haak has many hobbies. He loves computers, travel, automobiles and sports, especially KU basketball. He is an active member of the Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Denver. Haak always has had strong ties to the Great Bend and Ellinwood communities. He comes home to Kansas several times a year and never misses a chance to visit Barton’s campus and his friends in the Foundation Office.

Following Jeanette’s death in 2004, Haak decided to establish an annually funded scholarship at Barton in her memory to benefit students studying to become registered nurses. His commitment to this area is further demonstrated by his bequest to Barton for the establishment of the Clarence and Jeanette Haak Scholarship Fund to be established following his passing.

“Barton Community College is grateful to Clarence for his vision and foresight and his desire to further the academic excellence of Barton’s nursing department,” said Barton’s executive director of Institutional Advancement Darnell Holopirek. “We are proud to honor Clarence Haak with this prestigious award and feel he is a most deserving recipient.”

In addition to his gifts to Barton’s academic programs, Haak has donated his ANRI collection and other miscellaneous pieces of art and furniture to the Shafer Gallery.

“The Haaks often spoke of their desire to find a way to do something tangible and lasting for the College, and the idea of a scholarship just seemed to fit the bill,” Holopirek added. “Instead of one, Clarence has found a way to fund two and has chosen the nursing department as the beneficiary of his generosity.”

Clarence Haak accepts the Barton Community County Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award from Darnell Holopirek, Barton’s Executive Director of Institutional Advancement.