John D. Soley

John David Soley, age 81, passed away suddenly at home on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, of an apparent heart attack. In John's own words, "Knowledge is my God. Teaching is my religion. The classroom is my church." Cremation rites have been accorded. There will be a Celebration of the Life of John D. Soley at Chestnut Mountain, Galena, IL from 1:00pm until 3:00pm, on Saturday. June 25, 2016. Erik Soley and Peter Soley will share memories of their father at 2:00pm. John D. Soley was born on May 6, 1934 in Shoal Creek in rural Alberta, Canada, the youngest of four children, son of Orin Hilfred Holm and Dena (Silgard) Holm. Dena Holm passed away soon after John's birth. Orin Holm wanted the best for his youngest child so he traveled with his seven month-old son, John David Holm, on a wheat train from Canada to Friendship, Wisconsin, where he was adopted by his aunt, Selma O. (Holm) Soley and her husband, Almer J. Soley. John was a 1952 graduate of Friendship High School. John was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1954 and had to forego his Canadian citizenship .He served active duty in the Korean War, spending most of his tour in Orleans, France, where John began wearing a beret. This beret was the first of several he owned in his lifetime. John was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1956. John had a passion for learning, teaching, reading, classical music, and opera. He was a life-long learner. His vast library of books included volumes on history, political science, biographies of classical music composers, Shakespeare and poetry. John read from numerous books every day. On a weekly basis, John also read his print subscriptions to The Guardian Weekly, The Nation, The Progressive, MACLEANS (from Canada) and The New York Review of Books.. John Soley began his extensive collection of classical music LP recordings in Europe in the mid 1950s.His knowledge of music well-prepared him for writing the Programs Notes for the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra from November, 1974 until April, 1985 when Dr. Parvis Mahmoud served as its first conductor. John wrote music reviews of the Symphony for the Dubuque Telegraph Herald during the same period of time. John D. Soley and Kelly J. Sullivan wed on Bloomsday, June 16, 1990 at Grace Episcopal Church, Galena, IL. Together, they enjoyed many happy trips to Canada to visit John's siblings and their families, to stay with Erik in Minneapolis, and Peter in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. John graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, with majors in English, history and journalism in 1960. Soon after, he pursued his love of education that spanned a teaching career of more than forty-years. John taught at Dubuque Senior High School from 1962 to 1967, at the University of Dubuque from 1967 to 1972, and at Western Dubuque Junior High School for two years. John returned to Dubuque Senior High School where he taught from 1975 until his retirement in 2000. John developed the Dubuque School District's first-ever Advancement Placement class in English and composition at Dubuque Senior H.S. in the mid 1980s. He obtained an M.A. in Education (English) in 1970 with his thesis on Milton and Shakespeare under the guidance of Professor of English Bernice Coffee at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. To honor John's exemplary teaching, a National Merit Scholarship student at Dubuque Senior High School nominated him for the 1985 Presidential Scholars Program. Shortly thereafter, John traveled to Washington D.C. to receive a Certificate of Teaching Excellence at the White House. Dubuque Senior High School honored John as its Teacher of the Year in 1999. John was humbled by the recognitions. To celebrate John's retirement from Dubuque Senior High School in 2000, his sons Peter and Erik organized an idyllic trip to England, with their father, and his wife Kelly, where they stayed in a cottage in Grasmere in the Lake District, traveling throughout the English countryside and Scotland. After a year of retirement, John returned to the classroom, this time at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville to teach sections of Freshman Composition. Whether he taught high school or college students, John always assigned papers for his students to research and write. His primary goal was to teach his students how to write. John would say, "Be clear. Be concise. Be concrete." John enjoyed the trip of his lifetime in 2009 when he traveled to Norway with his son Peter, who made all of the arrangements. The above picture of John was taken by Peter during this trip. In 1900, John's maternal grandparents, Rasmus and Lina Silljerd emigrated from Stavanger, Norway to Ellis Island. Their last name was changed to Silgard because often the immigration agent wrote the name as it sounded. The Silgard family moved to Montana, where John's mother was born. About 1913, the family moved to Freedom in the Alberta province. John always had a deep affinity for his family's homelands, Canada and Norway. John owned flags of the U.S., Canada, Norway and France, which he flew outdoors on historic dates, such as Canada Day and Bastille Day. One of the happiest moments in John's life occurred in October 2014 when he received his Canadian citizenship certificate. The occassion helped reaffirm John's Canadian heritage. Those left to honor John's legacy include his wife, Kelly J. Sullivan Soley, his son, Erik J. Soley, Erik's daughter Nissa Christensen, and her children, Haley and Robbie Christensen, Minneapolis, and his son, Peter D. Soley and his partner, Paul Lechner, San Diego. John is survived by his nephew Lyle Moulton and his wife Irene and family, Westlock, Alberta, sister-in-law Elsie Holm and her daughter, Norine and Norine's husband Robert Kachmaryk, Barrhead, Canada, nephew Juan Holmes, British Columbia, relatives in Cambria and Stevens Point, Wisc., and Kenai, Alaska, and by Erik and Peter's mother, Susan (Bulkley) Deveaux. John was loved and respected by Kelly, his sons, his Canadian relatives, and Kelly's extended family. He touched the lives of hundreds of students, many of whom followed in his footsteps to become teachers. John was preceded in death by his parents, his adoptive aunt and uncle, and his Canadian siblings, Tommy Holm, Clifford Holm, and Sylvia (Holm) Moulton. In lieu of flowers, gifts to a scholarship in memory of John would be appreciated by the family.