Chickasaw Hall of Fame member dies

This article appeared in the December 2014 edition of the Chickasaw Times

NORMAN, Okla. - Colbert Franklin Hackler, who spent a lifetime sharing the beauty of music with thousands of students, died November 2 in Norman. He was 96.

Mr. Hackler was born January 13, 1918 in Mannsville, Oklahoma to Eva Lou (Colbert) Hackler and Charles Hackler.

In 2010, he was inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame.

He received many honors during his lifetime, including induction into the Halls of Fame of the Oklahoma Bandmasters, Oklahoma Music Educators and Elk City Alumni Associations. He was a past president of the American School Band Directors Association, American String Teachers Association and Oklahoma Music Educators Association.

In 1976, he was one of three faculty members presented the AMOCO Foundation Good Teaching Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. Mr. Hackler also received the Rotary Four Way Test Citizenship Award in 1998 and the Oklahoma City University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1989. He volunteered for Meals on Wheels for 10 years and greeted churchgoers at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church for 15 years.

See full obituary, page 19.