Henry "Hank" J. Naasko

Henry Jay Naasko, known to all as Hank, lived just shy of 82 joy-filled years, from July 14, 1941, to July 9, 2023. Hank was an ardent optimist and a person of many passions, able to find the good in anyone and anything, his enthusiasms always genuine, never sullied by irony. His departure leaves a hole in the world as large as his outsized and charismatic personality. Born to George and Sigrid Naasko, Hank grew up in Canton, Michigan, with his brother, George, who died when Hank was just 7 years old, and his younger sister, Mary, when Canton was no bustling suburb but a small farming community with a one room schoolhouse. As a young man, he discovered his love for music, and this self-described “country bumpkin” left home in 1959 to study vocal music at the University of Michigan. He trained to be a music educator and conductor, sang with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and, most importantly, joined the Men’s Glee Club as a freshman. To the end of his days, he credited his travels with the Glee Club around the United States and Europe with transforming his life by exposing him to new cultures and cuisines, to different histories and ideas. Hank graduated from Michigan with his Bachelor of Music degree in 1964 and followed that with a Master of Music degree seven years later. After graduation, Hank began a long and distinguished career as a teacher of music and history in the Livonia public schools. Having had his own life changed by education, he set about changing the lives of others through it. His choir at Frost Junior High performed at the national bicentennial festivities at The White House for President Gerald Ford and his choir at Churchill High School performed at the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush; his musical theater productions at Churchill were legendary. His students’ parents became devoted boosters, and his former students tracked him down long into his retirement to thank him for his impact on them. As a history teacher, he was equally creative and enthusiastic. He found ways to bring history alive, combining his love of food with his love for the past by having his students recreate recipes from historical cookbooks. In 1968, Hank married Sandra — despite having arrived to meet her parents riding a motorcycle and sporting a scruffy red beard. It was his life‘s best decision. They had three daughters: Sarah, Heidi, and Rachel. Since Sandy was also a music teacher, theirs was a household of singing and music, of band camps and halftime shows and recitals, and of carpool karaoke long before that was a thing. He was also a warm and loving brother-in-law to Sharry and Sally, and uncle to Aaron, Jeremy, Becky, Robin, Petr and Lara. Hank’s family was truly the joy of his life. He led his seven grandchildren, as he once had his daughters, nieces and nephews, on waterfall adventures in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and he delighted in conducting the burgeoning Naasko Family Singers on annual Christmas carol outings that might include the houses of neighbors, nursing homes, or downtown bars and restaurants. Proud of his Finnish heritage, he regularly attended the reunions of his mother’s extended Kangas family, and for nearly a quarter century he conducted the Finnish American Singers of Michigan in twice-yearly concerts and performances at FinnFests. Hank’s passions outside of family and music started with UM football but also ran a long gamut. He was a season ticket holder for some sixty years, and for decades of that he could count on the fingers of one hand the number of home games he had missed, a figure made up for many times over by roadtrips to away games and bowl games. But the game was only part of it, as he and Sandy tailgated with a group of their close friends, and when Sandy stopped attending the games, Hank would invite a daughter or grandchild or son-in-law to join him. He and Sandy were skilled and generous entertainers, whether for their bridge groups or Hank’s cast parties or the weekly family dinner that brought together their adult children and grandchildren. Hank was a raconteur, an avid gardener, a cook who loved a new recipe as much as his heavily-annotated old ones, a garage sale devotee, a car lover who in his summers took long-distance test drives for Ford and in later years loved tooling around Ann Arbor in his red Mustang convertible, and a man who adored—adored—Christmas, the ornaments and trees and lights and music and the Finnish anise-seed doughnuts and the unbridled, unapologetic joy of the holiday. Hank Naasko loved life and loved people, and he was always grateful for both. A gathering will be held at Sarah's home at 1571 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor MI, 48103 on Saturday, July 15 from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. There is limited parking onsite; please reserve driveway parking for those with limited mobility. Alternate parking available nearby on Virgina Ave. Please note that ascending several steps is necessary to enter the home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church at 2250 E Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 on Monday, July 17 at 11:00 A.M. Fr. James Conlon as Celebrant. To honor Hank’s love of the University of Michigan at these events, we invite you to join us wearing Michigan regalia or Hank’s favorite colors: maize, blue, or white. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the Finnish Center Association (https://finnishcenter.org/fcc-donation) or the Henry J. Naasko Family Scholarship Fund, a newly created endowment to support Michigan Glee Club students (https://donate.umich.edu/gMyjW) (Checks made out to "University of Michigan" with "Men's Glee Club Fund - 362611" in the Memo line. Mail to: Attn. Rose Martus, School of Music, Theater & Dance Advancement, 2005 Baits Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109) To leave a memory you have of Hank or for directions please visit www.rbfhsaline.com.

Tributes

Henry "Hank" J. Naasko

July 14, 1941 - July 9, 2023