CHARLESTON, IL – Harold Arthur “Hal” Malehorn, age 88, of Charleston passed away on Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home in Mattoon and returned to the cosmos from whence he came. Hal rested in peace, fully confident of life after life.
Visitation will be at Adams Funeral Chapel, Charleston, Illinois, from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 26, 2018. The remembrance celebrating his life will be at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 27, 2018 at Adams Funeral Chapel, followed by burial in Roselawn Cemetery, Charleston, Illinois.
Hal was born to William and Pauline (Greenawalt) Malehorn on March 14, 1930, in Columbus, Ohio. The following year, the family moved to Bradner, Ohio, where his father was the school superintendent and taught social studies.
In 1938, the family settled in Farmington, New Mexico, where his parents would teach for 26 years at the Navajo Methodist Mission School, a boarding school for Navajo children. There he studied under both parents’ instruction.
In 1948 he graduated from Wheaton, Academy in West Chicago, Illinois. He then attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, majoring in English literature and history. There he met Edith Jenson, and the two married on April 17, 1954. “Edie” preceded him in death on March 25, 2015.
During the Korean War, he served in the Army Ordnance Corps at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Discharged from military service, he enrolled at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. There, over the next 14 years, he eventually earned three graduate degrees: a master’s in Junior high school administration, a sixth year degree in school administration, and a doctorate in early childhood education.
During this time, he was also teaching upper grades English, serving as an elementary school principal, and teaching primary and kindergarten children, in Hillside, Illinois and Wilmette, Illinois.
In 1970, he began a 27-year career in Eastern Illinois University’s College of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle Level Education, instructing freshmen through graduate-level students.
As a hobby, Hal collected practical teaching ideas. While at Eastern, he published thousands of these ideas in six volumes, intended for teachers of young children.
An armchair historian, for 20 years he produced weekly newspaper columns entitled “The Lincoln Log,” and “The USA’s Yesterdays” for the Charleston Times-Courier of Charleston, Illinois. He also published an e-book, “Abraham Lincoln’s Life and Times.”
For 24 seasons, he was a living-history interpreter at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site in Lerna, Illinois. There he portrayed Alfred Balch, an 1845 schoolmaster. As the historic site’s resident storyteller, Hal as “Alfred Balch” entertained and enlightened visitors on the lifestyles of the Thomas Lincoln family and other Illinois settlers. His humorous tales often spiced facts with outrageous fictions.
In 2004 he was a member of the first set of local volunteers honored with the Jefferson Award for Public Service, which recognizes residents who go above and beyond in professional and/or personal ways to better their communities.
Hal also earned three additional master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University, in middle school education, principalship, and gerontology.
He was fond of traveling, solving crossword puzzles, growing tomatoes, participating in Sacred Harp shape note singing, and singing in his church choir. He cherished popular music of the Big Bands and Rodgers and Hammerstein eras.
Hal was preceded in death by his older brother Merlin. He is survived by four children: Kathryn (Timothy Rapson) of Decatur, Illinois; Steven of Charleston; Janet (Jerry Spencer) of Helena, Montana; David (Lois Gambill) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; niece Cheryl Malehorn Flurer; nephew Michael Malehorn; seven grandchildren: Grace (Jacob Frazier), Benjamin Rapson, Deborah Rapson (Matthew Gremo, fiancé) all of Decatur, Illinois; Rachel Malehorn (Ania Hidalgo) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Sharon (Tommy Johnson) of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; Michelle (Jose Sosa) of Hanover Park, Illinois. Alison (Billy Gu) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; six great-grandchildren: Gabriel, Faye, and Leon Frazier; Booker and Miles Johnson; Milli and Luna Sosa.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Volunteer Pioneers at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site, Lerna, Illinois 62440. Gifts may also be left at the visitation/service or mailed in care of Adams Funeral Chapel, 2330 Shawnee Dr., Charleston, IL 61920.
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