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ABOUTDon was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Many of his mother’s relatives were farmers who lived in the Town of Wayne located near West Bend in Washington County, Wisconsin. Don, his parents, brothers, and sister visited them often in his childhood years. Dairying was the main enterprise on the farms “out home,” as the area was affectionately called. At a very young age, Don decided that dairy farming, hopefully, “out home”, would be his career choice. His Grandma Jonas had her heart set on sending him to Mission House College to become a pastor. Don did give that some thought, but he really fell in love with the farm lifestyle, particularly dairying. He decided positively by the age of twelve that he would, if at all possible, one day own a farm with dairy cows as the main income source. Don married Ruth in 1957. Ruth was born and raised on a farm near Jackson in Washington County. Ruth’s father tried hard to convince them that there are far better ways to make a living than milking cows; however, Ruth shared Don’s love for farm living. As they began their married life testing the milk which other farmers produced, the farm lifestyle beckoned them. In 1960, they purchased a purebred herd of Holstein cows, rented a Waukesha County farm, and began their farming career. Cooperhaven was the prefix chosen for registering their cattle; each newborn calf was named with Cooperhaven as the first word in its name. In 1968, they purchased a farm in Sheboygan County and named it "Cooperhaven Farm." The Lord blessed them with six children who helped with the farm work during their growing years. The herd earned acclaim for superior milk production and body conformation. Many animals were sold to other dairy farmers, locally, statewide and worldwide. St Paul’s Lutheran Church of Mt. Calvary is their church home. All six children attended, and graduated from its day school. Music was an important part of their education. Ruth continues taking part in the church's ladies activities. Don has held perhaps every elected office in the church, sang in the choir, and was choir director for several years. The whole family loves music. Singing helped while away the hours many times when farm work became tedious. Don made up songs many times while picking stones and milking cows never thinking he would write and record his music. Barbershop music was an important part of Don’s life, singing the melody part with several choruses. He is an active member of a Christian chorus “The Men of Harmony” from Sheboygan and was the lead voice in a quartet called “The East West Connection Quartet.” He wrote new words for several of the songs they sang, which probably ultimately led to his avocation as a song writer. Don’s love for music prompted him to try out for a Nashville competition where he entered the Christian writing contest with two songs, “Gramma’s Tattered Bible” and “He Gave Us Jesus,” which are recorded on his first album. These songs demonstrate his desire to share his love for Jesus and God’s true Word, the Holy Bible, with an audience. Ruth and Don are both trained for Lay Ministry work at the Fond du Lac Lutheran Home. Their mission is to share music and scripture with the residents. The Home became a wonderful place to share their love for Jesus and for God’s Word. Sharing the lives and faith of the residents and the faculty has resulted in even more appreciation for the many blessings the Lord showers on everyone daily. An article which appeared in the "Wisconsin Agriculturist" telling about a farmer turned song writer resulted in requests for Don to speak at group meetings. A presentation was developed featuring Don’s music and poetry. Audiences are taught to sing the choruses to several of Don’s songs and listen to other songs and poems he wrote and the scripture verses which inspired them. At the very first presentation, some folks asked for copies of the words to Don’s songs and poems. Don has written a compilation of many of his songs and poems along with some of his favorite scripture verses in a book, “From The Heart Of An Old Farmer”, which is available for purchase at the conclusion of the presentation. Don’s presentations have been a real joy for him as well as his audiences. Don writes new material each week. Two books, “A Farmer's Lament ” and “What’s Missing,” are in the works and a CD of the title songs for each book will be included with their purchase. Some of his new poems are presented on these pages. Many of the Bible verses used in this site are taken from the NIV translation. Ruth and Don's children were introduced to the NIV in school because of the ease of understanding the language when it is written in daily conversation. While Ruth and Don were brought up using King James, they soon discovered that using the NIV version made Bible study more meaningful. Some of the familiar verses are presented in the King James format. It is difficult to ignore some of the old memorized passages. |
Psalm 95
Psalm 100
Psalm 147:1 Phillipians 4:4-9
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