Janice A. Clabuesch

It is with great sadness that I announce the peaceful passing of my beloved Wife, Janice "Jan" Ann (Rapley) Clabuesch at age 76, from kidney cancer, in Bad Axe, Michigan on February 26, 2015. Jan was predeceased by her mother, Roseen, in 2000 and her father, Robert "Bob", in 1978. She is survived by her sisters, Barbara "Barb" Lakewold of Deer Park, WA; Elizabeth "Liz" Laverno of Menomonie, WI; and Marilyn "Mare" Van Meter of Oklahoma City, OK. Jan was married to James "Jake" Soderberg from 1962 to 1970 and they lived in Los Angeles and Berkeley, California.
Jan was born in Flint, Michigan in November of 1938. She spent her early childhood years in Mt. Morris and Houghton Lake, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. The family then moved to Rock Island, Illinois where she attended high school. After graduation from high school, she attended Rockford and Augustana Colleges and graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education in 1961. Immediately after graduation she moved to Southern California where she taught music to elementary students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. During this period she became interested in the Orff-Schulwerk approach of teaching music to elementary children and obtained a Master Certificate for the teaching of this philosophy of music education. It was also during this period that she obtained a Masters of Music degree from San Francisco State University. In 1978 she was hired by the California State University, Chico (CSUC) as an Associate Professor to teach classes in Music Education for Elementary Teachers, using the Orff-Schulwerk approach. Two years after being hired by CSUC, she was granted full professor status.
She lived in Chico, California until her retirement and marriage to Walter F. "Fred" Clabuesch in 2000. She co-founded, organized and held offices, including President, in the American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA) chapters in San Francisco and Chico, California. Jan has also held a number of positions at the National level, including President, of AOSA and conducted workshops in Orff-Schewark nationally and inter-nationally. It was during this time that she co-authored three books with Grace C. Nash. They were titled Music in the Making, Holidays and Special Days and Series III. IV and More.
Jan was active after retirement, during the winter months in Brownsville, Texas where she and Fred had a winter retirement home. She conducted the Park Choir, took part in the plays and skits the park presented. After retirement she wanted to travel so she and Fred traveled to Thailand, Africa, England and Europe. She and Fred enjoyed cruising and passed through the Panama Canal and cruised the Caribbean Islands, the Mediterranean and Black Seas. On their latest cruise, just before her illness, she got to visit, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania, Israel, Egypt and Italy.
Jan's ashes will be scattered in Saginaw Bay, Michigan just off Sand Point, where they have their summer home. A Memorial Service will be scheduled at a later date for the residents of the park where they spent their winters.