Otto Haisley, Ex-School Head, Dies

Otto Haisley, Ex-School Head, Dies

Was Superintendent Here From 1924-’53; Brief Illness Fatal

Otto W. Haisley, 72, superintendent of the Ann Arbor Public Schools from 1924 to 1953, died yesterday afternoon at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital after a brief illness. His home was at 2104 Melrose Ave.

Since his retirement from the school post, he had been an investment counselor for Watling Lerchen & Co.

The Haisley School at 825 Duncan St. was named after him.

Mr. Haisley was born on March 21, 1887, in Fairmount, Ind., the son of Elwood and Millicent Rush Haisley. He received his bachelor’s degree from Earlham College, Richmond, Ind., in 1906, and his master’s degree from Columbia University in New York City in 1917.

Career Told

From 1913 to 1916, Mr. Haisley was a high school teacher in San Antonio, Tex. He held the post of superintendent of schools at Niles, Mich., from 1917 to 1924, when he became superintendent of schools in Ann Arbor.

Mr. Haisley was a member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. He was a past president of the Ann Arbor Rotary Club, Barton Hills Country Club and of the Ann Arbor Council of Social Agencies.

He was a member of the Ann Arbor Club, the University Club, the Elks, and the Ann Arbor Golf and Outing Club.

He was a member of the board of directors of the Detroit Mortgage and Realty Co.

In June, 1953, Mr. Haisley was awarded an honorary diploma from Ann Arbor High School, the highest award given by the school. In 1951 he was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Michigan State Normal College, now Eastern Michigan University.

Mr. Haisley headed the local United Church Canvass, a joint fund-raising drive for churches here in 1954.

In April, 1959, he was elected secretary-treasurer of the newly organized Michigan Citizens Council for Better Schools.

Was Chairman

Mr. Haisley was former chairman of a special committee of the American Association cf School Administrators to study the status of the school superintendent.

Mr. Haisley had contributed numerous articles to educational magazines. He was a member of the Michigan Association of School Administrators and a member of the board of directors of the National Education Association. He was a member of the Michigan Education Association. He was a past-president of the Michigan Association of School Board Members and Superintendents, and a past-president of the Michigan Association of School Business Officials. He was a member of Phi Delta Kappa fraternity.

His Wife Survives

In December, 1910, Mr. Haisley married Harriet Griffen of Niles. She died in January, 1934. In June, 1935, he married Alice Callender, daughter of the late Judge Sherman D. Callender of Detroit. She survives.

Also surviving are two daughters, Sylvia Louise Haisley, now a teacher in the Midland schools, and Virginia Rush Haisley, a student at Earlham College, Richmond, Ind.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. The Rev. Henry Lewis will officiate. Burial will be made in Forest Hill Cemetery. Friends may call at the Muehlig Chapel until noon Sunday.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the endowment fund of Earlham College, Richmond, Ind., or to Nicholas Schreiber, principal of Ann Arbor High School, for the establishment of an Otto W. Haisley Scholarship Fund.