LeRoy Day "Hap" Haberman passed away in his trademark peace and calm at age 99 on Sept. 14, 2017, with loving family at home in Carpinteria, CA, from congestive heart failure with pulmonary complications. In his wonderfully long, rewarding lifetime, Hap filled many varied roles – beloved teacher and stage director, devoted husband and father, outstanding light comedy writer, acclaimed actor, talented musician, delightfully witty speaker and storyteller, avid sports lover, voracious reader, and charmingly congenial party host. Topping all that, Hap may very well have been the kindest, most thoughtful man any of us were ever lucky enough to know.

Hap was born in Watertown, SD, on May 20, 1918, to Gladys (Jenkins) and Zeno Haberman. Young LeRoy was a remarkably calm, easygoing, cheerful child, earning him the nickname "Happy" Haberman in grade school, which suited him fine as he'd never been fond of "LeRoy". Hap's family moved in 1931 to nearby Huron, SD, where Zeno opened his Karmelkorn franchised De-Lite Shop that soon expanded into a popular full-service diner. Teenaged Hap was its jack-of-all-trades – sweeping, mopping, hauling heavy supplies, running errands, soda jerking, and even plucking dozens of chickens late each Saturday night for the diner's Sunday dinner.

Hap's fondness for humorous writing led to campus paper humor column jobs at both Huron High School and the University of South Dakota in Vermillion (USD), where Hap enjoyed much praise for his gently witty prose. A keen interest in football got him as far as second-string quarterback at Huron High, but a foot injury sidelined that career, along with his height inconveniently topping out at 5'7". Improbably becoming an adept marimba player, Hap also formed a dance band with his unbeknownst future brother-in-law, prodigy pianist Sam Keck Jr.

Practicing at the Keck home, Hap inevitably met and fell hopelessly for Sam's effervescent twin sister and the great love of Hap's life, Elinor "Ellie" Keck. They remained "an item" through high school and college, as Hap spent his freshman year at local Huron College, then transferred to USD where his theatrical career blossomed. He'd dabbled in acting before, but dove in completely at USD where he quickly built a reputation as a highly popular stage comedian, under director Dr. Warren M. "Doc" Lee.

Degree in hand and determined to try his luck at professional acting, Hap won a summer apprentice scholarship to renowned Ivoryton Playhouse in Connecticut, then set out to conquer Broadway. After ten fruitless weeks, he returned to Huron in late 1941. Just two weeks before Pearl Harbor, Hap landed the first job he really loved, writing ad copy for radio station WNAX in Yankton, SD. But then he entered the Army, enlisting as an officer. Lt. Hap spent the next 3 years at various bases around the US, mostly training others in field artillery.

By late 1944, with the war in Europe clearly winding down, Hap proposed to Ellie and they were married Jan. 15, 1945, at his Army base in South Carolina. But a week before that date, he got his notice to ship out to Europe just two weeks after the wedding. The ensuing 16-month separation was of course agonizing for them, made no easier by Hap's cold bleak winter and spring in northern Europe, then staying a full year after the war to help guard SS officers facing war crime trials. The "newlyweds interrupted" made the most of their mid-1946 reunion though, idyllically sharing their remaining summer weeks in the Black Hills.

Already leaning toward a career in education, Hap jumped at an offer from USD mentor "Doc" Lee to earn his Master's degree while teaching. That summer of 1947 he also joined Doc's fledgling Black Hills Playhouse (BHP) company for its second season, with Ellie happily in tow. So began Hap's very favorite tradition, enjoying an amazing 42 summers at the Playhouse with Ellie, at first acting, then also directing, plus countless crew duties, all while having the best time of his life. His MA degree finished, Hap gave Broadway a second brief whirl, but soon decided to resume teaching. In fall 1948 Hap taught drama at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, then took up doctoral studies next fall at prestigious Stanford University, thanks to the GI Bill. As Hap finished his coursework, Ellie gave birth to son Jim in May 1952. To support his new child, Hap delayed writing his dissertation to teach at the University of Buffalo, but after two endless frigid winters, Hap's little family returned back to California.

Hap's stalled dissertation got underway back at Stanford, while most summers were still spent blissfully at the BHP with Hap now directing plays as much as acting in them. Finally becoming Dr. Hap in early 1959, he accepted and adored a one-year speech/drama position at Ventura College (VC). The next two years, he taught at Compton College, taking the following year off in Saratoga, CA, to pursue a possible writing career. When a long-term VC job was offered in 1963, Hap leapt at it, helping usher in an impressive brand new theatre complex in an era of tremendous growth. His distinguished Ventura career, lasting a quarter of a century, allowed Hap to mentor and direct hundreds of theatre students, some becoming dear friends and colleagues later. Hap even recommended his top VC students to the BHP, ideally combining both his professional worlds.

At the Playhouse in the '60s, Hap became its primary director of musicals and still acted occasionally, most notably as Elwood P. Dowd in "Harvey" over four decades (1950, 1963, 1978 and 1990). His celebrated Christmas letters began then too, soon eagerly anticipated by hundreds of admirers for their always sparkling wit. With son Jim out of college and their house in 1974, Hap and Ellie looked ahead to retirement, finding their summer dream home in the Black Hills, a charming rustic cabin nestled creek-side in a gorgeous wooded glen on Remington Road near the Playhouse. For several summers they divided their time between the BHP and their beloved cabin, hosting frequent social events despite lacking electricity and running water, plus trout fishing, reading, enjoying woodsy walks, and playing Mr. Fix-it, a job that kept him plenty busy given the cabin's age and severe lack of amenities.

On the California home front, Hap never really wanted to retire from VC, still dearly loving teaching, directing and mentoring students. That didn't stop him from greatly enjoying a delightful four-month 1979 sabbatical leave to England. But in 1986 when his sweet mother Gladys' health began failing back in Huron, Hap retired to take charge of her care. Her passing a few months later for once left Hap and Ellie with no clear-cut direction ahead. So began their carefree nomadic adventure years, based at first in Ventura, with temporary homesteads in nearby Channel Islands, Sedona, AZ, and Yankton, SD. Most memorable were four wildly happy years in colorful Deadwood, SD, in the mid-90s, despite cruel winters and a wickedly off-kilter staircase up to their apartment above a casino. Alongside several "farewell" Playhouse seasons, Hap and Ellie moved to much greater comfort in Rapid City and continued their frequent travels, with close-by adventures in their cherished Black Hills and stays at the beloved Remington cabin, now owned by close friends.

Fortunately both enjoying vibrant health well into their late eighties, tragedy eventually struck Ellie with a devastating fall and injury in late 2007. Forced to move into nursing care, she never recovered, though her inner strength and spirit remained strong. Hap was devastated by both their physical separation and watching his adored Ellie gradually slip away from dementia and other serious ailments. Touchingly, Hap dutifully drove to her bedside nearly every day of the next five difficult years, determined to spend daily time with his sweetheart. He remained in their Rapid City apartment for awhile, later moving to nearby Westhills Village when his own ability to fully care for himself declined.

After Ellie's passing in 2013, Hap stayed in Rapid a few months, but as winter loomed ahead, he finally accepted his son and daughter-in-law's enthusiastic offer to live with them back in Carpinteria, CA, just up from Ventura. Worried about being a burden, he was the exact opposite, a complete joy and treasure to hold close during these final years. If anyone ever fully lived up to a nickname, it was surely the eternally "Happy" Haberman, always there with a warm sunny smile, and at the right hour, offering a generously poured cocktail as well. He stayed amazingly healthy far into his late 90s, his stamina declining significantly just this April. Hap's only deeply difficult days came in his last month, ending with a final week of hospice care at home. Even through all that, Hap remained the sheer delight he'd always been, and no doubt still is today, finally reunited with his beloved Ellie at that Great Happy Hour beyond.

Hap was also pre-deceased by his reticently charming parents, Gladys R. (Jenkins) Haberman, in 1987, and Zeno C. Haberman, in 1959. Without siblings, Hap treasured his "adopted" in-law sister, Lois Lindt, leaving us at age 98 in 2013; and brother-in-law, Sam Keck Jr., in 1972; and also Ellie's dear parents, Mabel C. Keck and Rev. Dr. Samuel W. Keck, passing in 1972 and 1982 respectively.

Hap's survivor list includes his proud son Jim (Sharon) Haberman of Carpinteria, CA; grandson Dr. Brent (Jodi Beth) Haberman of St. Louis, MO; granddaughter Kate (Josh) Gatewood of Lincoln, NE; great-grandson Kester Roberts Haberman of St. Louis, MO; nephew John (Margaret) Lindt of Los Osos, CA; and nieces Dr. Josephine (Mark Weissberg) Lindt of Kensington, CA, and Peggy (Eric Kelley) Lindt of Santa Barbara, CA.

Memorial contributions to Hap's deeply treasured Black Hills Playhouse will be gratefully accepted in his name at either their website at: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?donation=bhp or mailing address: Black Hills Playhouse, PO Box 2513, Rapid City, SD 57709.

A centennial celebration of Hap's marvelous life that deeply touched so very many is tentatively being planned for the Black Hills area next year close to his 100th birthday, probably on Memorial Day weekend (May 26-28). The shape and specifics of this event are yet to be determined, but notices will be posted online and locally in plenty of time.