Birth date: Nov 8, 1926 Death date: Oct 4, 2013
Donald “Don” Raymond Constant, age 86, of Grand Haven, Michigan, passed away at Heartwood Lodge on Friday, October 4, 2013. He was born in Grand Haven on November 8, 1926 to Cornelius “Casey” and Anna (Korf) Constant. He married t Read Obituary
My deepest sympathies to the Constant family.
I love you Coach.
Don, Hal and Boonie are now all ice-fishing in heaven. Three great educators that gave a lot to the students of Grand Haven and help make Grand Haven High School a great place to learn.
From the fall of 1953 to the spring of 1957 I was in Mr. Constant's homeroom every morning for a half hour. Other teachers let their groups talk and tell jokes. Mr. Constant made us study. Imagine that! He was a fine teacher, great coach, and shall be remembered well by many people. I shall always remember his great smile! My sympathy and best wishes to his family.
Sincerely,
Grace Ann (nee Smith) Weiler
My sympathies to Jane and Mark, Bob and all of the Constant family. I too had your Dad in History as well as cheering the football team on when he was Coach. I have fond memories of his dry humor. Thinking of you all.
Mike PreFontaine
Donn Van Schelven. Coach Constant was my football coach,basketball coach and timer at my track meets meets when I was in high school. I was very impressed with his will to win his will to win. His sense of humor was tremendous as well. I always tease him about his smoking, he said if you can beat me in the 50 yd dash I'll quit smoking. 15 tries over the years and he never had to give up on my account .
Donna, family, and friends of Don, please know that I send my sympathies to you with love and prayers.
Lillian and I appreciated the unfailing support and friendship of Don and his family during the 18 years I taught and coached with Don at GHHS.
Coach Don made teaching "in the basement" A O.K. because of the interaction with him on an hourly basis.
I looked forward to my annual visits to Grand Haven to reminisce with Don, Hal, and other special friends.
The words "well done, my good and faithful servant" are truly fitting for Coach Don.
Coach Al Schaffer
Coach Constant was my coach my Jr year at GHHS with Gene Rothi and then my Sr year with Hal Henrickson. ( I wonder if it is just coincidence both coaches Constant and Henrickson passed away so close to each other) We sometimes clashed when I played for him and it took a few years for me to realize that he was totally right and I was totally wrong. Nonetheless the fundamentals I learned from him were instrumental in my later football successes at the Coast Guard Academy.
Jon if you read this I hope you'll remember to two us throwing and catching down on the GHHS practice field when you were the QB at Hope and I was graduated and at UM law.
I remember sending Coach Constant a couple pass plays designed by my Coach Otto Graham at the Coast Guard Academy. Coach asked me to demonstrate them to the team at practice one day. He told me he had incorporated the plays into his playbook and that he used them often.
I wrote Coach a note when he was very deservedly inducted into the Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame. But he did me one better and called me when I was elected to the Coast Guard Academy Hall of Fame. We talked for at least an hour. I was again reminded of how many lives he had touched both as coach and teacher. He fondly told me about the recent reunion he had attended of the unbeaten 53? GHHS team and how proud he was of the successes of so many members of that team. He spoke of the many great players he had coached, but always about their later successes in life as opposed to on the football field.
I could go on and on,,,goodbye and thanks Coach.
So sorry to hear of Don's passing. Always enjoyed Don's sense of humor and dedication to teaching and coaching. We had lots of chats over sports and current events when we taught together. We enjoyed knowing Barb and all of the family. Seems impossible to lose Don,Hal, and Ted in a week. Our prayers for peace and love to the family. God Bless! Jon and Linda Hall
So sorry to hear of Mr. Constants passing. I had him for Michigan History my Sophmore year at GHHS and he was my Dad's Football coach years before that. I really learned a great deal from him about my home state that I still use to this date because I live in Virginia and my 12 year loves learning new things each year. My favorite memory of Mr. Constant was the year the marching band was doing pictures during his class period and he told me that I had to come back during my study hall period to take a test he was giving us that day. It was the only test I ever past the first time I took a test in his class and he always teased me after that that maybe I should come during study hall to take my tests so there were no distractions for me. I looked up to him because even though he was a teacher he let me have a voice in his classroom and I really appreciated that very much.
Your Entire family are in my family during this sad time. May you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit surround you as you say your good-byes this week.
Tammy L. Kanouse Cuoghi
Class of 1982
