David Arlan Bauer, 79, of Kearney, Nebraska, died during a medical procedure at Kearney Regional Hospital in Kearney, on Friday, February 7, 2025, after bravely battling multiple myeloma for the past 5 years.
David was born September 15, 1945, in Concordia, Kansas, to Wade and Connie (Demaray) Bauer. He graduated from Clay Center High School (Clay Center, Kansas) in 1963. David married Ann Yust on September 19, 1967, in Clay Center, Kansas. Five children blessed this union: Paul, Marc, Andrew, Rebecca, and Joshua.
Raised on a farm near Broughton, Kansas, David excelled in youth baseball, and made lifelong friendships with Bill Frost, Rex Carlson and Harvey Frigon.
David was in the Peace Corps in India, summer of 1967. He graduated from Fort Hays State College in 1968 with a degree in Music Education. Later, he earned a Master of Music Education degree from the University of Missouri Conservatory of Music, in Kansas City, and a Doctor of Education degree from Arizona State University.
He taught secondary choral music in Bonner Springs, Colby, and Manhattan, Kansas, and then moved to collegiate-level teaching at Northern State University, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. David taught at the University of Nebraska-Kearney for 35 years before retiring in 2019. He remained active as an adjudicator of music contests in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. He was a frequent conductor of festival choirs in the USA during his collegiate tenure.
David created the Platte River Singers, a Kearney area community choir, in 2013, and he served as the artistic director. Last year, David and Ann received the “Friends of Kearney” award from the Kearney Chamber of Commerce for contributions and leadership within the community. David received the Fort Hays State University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2024. The David Bauer family was inducted into the Kearney High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.
David was a high school wrestler, and he officiated high school and collegiate wrestling for over 40 years. He passed his love of the sport onto his family. He continued to be a supporter of Kearney wrestling. During the late 1980s and early ’90s, David could be found umpiring junior league baseball many summer evenings.
David was a life member of the American Choral Directors Association. He was a member of Nebraska Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, Dobytown Kiwanis, Arbor Day and Defenders of Wildlife. He directed the Kearney First United Methodist Church choir for 35 years. In 2006, David founded the University of Nebraska at Kearney Honor Choir to provide cultural and musical opportunities for high school students in Nebraska.
David enjoyed fishing and camping near Marble, Colorado, with his friends, Jeff and Jean Harris, of Mesa, Arizona, for over 30 years. He traveled with his choirs throughout Europe and in Mexico, South America and Canada. His choirs have sung at Carnegie Hall and the Mormon Tabernacle, and performed for President Bill Clinton when he visited Kearney in 2000. David was also a close friend of choral director/ composer Z. Randall Stroope, who wrote and dedicated songs to David and Ann. He was also passionate about birds – at one time raising 15 different species of pheasant, as well as quail, francolin and partridge in an aviary on his property northwest of Kearney.
Survivors include his wife Ann of Kearney; five children Paul (Michelle), of Carrollton, Texas; Marc (Elizabeth), of Kearney; Andrew, of Arlington, Texas; Rebecca (Daniel) Busenbark, of Hutchinson, Kansas; Joshua (Heidi), of Haymarket, Virginia; 16 grandchildren: Ryan (Ashlee); Matthew (Cassandra); Scott (McKenna); Sarah (Griffin) Edwards; Allison (fiancé Cameron Riecke); Julia (Eli) Wolfe; Sophia; Meghan (Caleb) Phipps; Hannah, Henry, Madilynne, Benjamin, Lydia, Nora, Andrew, and William; 10 great-grandchildren: Eloise, Caleb, Isla, Adaline Elizabeth, Adaline Katelee, Eliza, Coda, Ethan, Charlie, and Selah; brother Ernest (Frances), of Davisburg, Michigan; sister Nancie (Thomas) Stelle of Lenexa, Kansas; brothers-in-law Steve (Patti) Yust of Sylvia, Kansas; Philip (Sally) Yust of St. Joseph, Missouri; David (Sharon) Yust of Del Norte, Colorado; many nieces and nephews; and a host of friends and former students dear to his heart. He will also be missed by his loyal white Labrador, Jesse.
