Don DeKeyser

ESCANABA — Most folks in these parts are familiar with Don DeKeyser, a most versatile teacher who spent 28 years in the trenches. Despite turning 97 this year, he vividly recalls memories from his career. His early years saw him molding young minds in Oscoda and Powers before ending up in Gwinn for almost two decades.

He also was an advocate for our local community education. Some of his activities included taking students to a National Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention, helping establish the Gladstone Scholarship Fund and serving on committees for both All Saints and Bay College.

Though he earned a degree in agriculture, “I taught whatever they needed me to teach,” he says with a smile. “Chemistry, shop…, even driver ed.” He taught the latter to over 600 high school kids. Some of them already had a bit of experience driving with their parents, while others “didn’t know what a steering wheel was for.”

At least a hundred more driver ed students were adult women, some of whom failed a class the first time around. He relayed the white-knuckle ride that occurred when a lady navigated the student driver car through a bumpy field. Another woman had trouble convincing someone to teach her, but two weeks after her lessons with Don, she proudly drove to her sons home.

It’s safe to say that Don helped “steer” plenty of high school students toward their livelihood as well. In his youth, Don helped his father cut and sell Christmas trees, so he knew that the business had a solid future. When he told his class about the opportunity, several young men took it to heart. “They were good students with ambition,” Don remembers, “and they had help from their parents in getting started.” The resulting Christmas tree farms have become thriving family businesses for 50-plus years, with his students’ children – and even grandchildren – taking the helm.

Don never shied away from labor and passed that work ethic onto his seven children. History repeated itself when they peeled and stripped pulp alongside their father in the woods, snakes and all, in order to pay for their college educations.

When it’s time for R&R, Don enjoys watching football. There’s a reason he’s been a lifelong Packers fan. His father actually played for the Green Bay team before it went pro. A framed photo of those early Packers hangs on the wall of Don’s home.

Today, Don enjoys visiting and reminiscing with folks about the history and people of this area.