Harry Donald Eichhorn

Harry Donald Eichhorn, musician and band director, died November 18, 2019 at his home in Wall with wife Kathy and dog Nellie by his side. He was born January 29, 1927 in Newark, NJ to Robert Job Eichhorn and Katherine Milne Eichhorn. He grew up in East Orange and studied piano, violin, and cornet at an early age. Summers were spent in Ocean Grove where he would later become a locker boy, auditorium usher, fireman, and lifeguard. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from high school. After his honorable discharge at the end of the war, he went on to receive a Bachelors degree from Montclair State Teachers College. He began his teaching career in Neptune and often shared stories of travelling between elementary schools and driving a school bus. He then accepted a position in Manasquan that would span more than thirty years as the band director of the Manasquan High School Warrior Band. Other duties at Manasquan included the elementary school band, the high school chorus, the stage band, advanced music class, and twirling and flag squads. At one time, he taught every student entering the high school as they were enrolled in band, chorus, or a freshman Related Arts class. Students remember him for teaching the words to the Star-Spangled Banner, marching eight steps to five yards, and the infamous quote your other left. While teaching thousands of students during those years, he pursued his own education, earning a Masters degree at Trenton State and completing additional courses at Rutgers. Mr. Eichhorn succeeded at giving musicians the opportunity to perform for a wide variety of audiences. Marching performances included Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, the Armed Forces Day parade in Manhattan, Miss America Parades, Apple Blossom Festival Parades, the Azalea Festival Parade, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Ocean Grove 4th of July Parade. He fondly remembered concerts at the Worlds Fair, the Pentagon, Baltimores Inner Harbor, and the Jefferson Memorial, and a performance at the National Invitational Tournament in Madison Square Garden. In addition to composing the King Neptune March, he arranged music for bands, brass groups, and choral accompaniment. Many of his arrangements were penned at the last minute, including parade marches, fanfares, hymns, and even the University of Alabama fight song. He founded the Ocean Grove Summer Band in 1953 to give musicians an opportunity to perform and share concert band repertoire with summer visitors. The band continues weekly summer concerts in the boardwalk pavilion named in his honor. The Atlantic Wind Ensemble, founded after his retirement from Manasquan, also entertains audiences at churches, nursing homes, retirement communities, civic organizations, and fundraising events. While known for his music, Harry had other pastimes. Eating was his favorite and he liked weekly breakfast with the boys (a group of retired friends), donning a red spaghetti shirt for spaghetti and meatballs, potato soup, and roast beef. He enjoyed rowing and stand-up boating in lifeguard boats. He loved swimming the line and riding waves at the South End beach, and swimming laps. His travels included a cross-country trip, Great Britain to explore his Scottish ancestry, Hawaii, Florida, and a Mississippi River cruise. He took great pride in keeping his grass cut, trimmed, and fertilized. Family and friends enjoy his woodworking, homebuilding, and handyman projects, including the house he built in Belmar, home additions, decks, clocks, shelves, tables, and toys. As a life-long Methodist, he continued to sing with the choir at St. Andrews UMC. Always a Marine, he would raise the American flag and Marine Corps flag each morning. He would then read the paper, play solitaire, or work on puzzles. He always had a dog by his side, a cat in his lap, and concert schedules, programs, and musical scores on a nearby table. He was predeceased by his parents, his brothers Robert Eichhorn and Alexander Eichhorn, his wife Mary Rodgers Eichhorn, and son-in-law Donald Herche. He is survived by his wife Kathleen Kamaris Eichhorn; daughter Kathy Herche, daughter Bonnie (Frank) Liantonio, and son Harry Chip (Kelly) Eichhorn II; grandchildren Jesse (Amy) Herche, Job Herche, Amy Liantonio, Frank Liantonio Jr, and Sydney Eichhorn; the mother of his children, Gloria Bennett Whittle; and nieces and nephews. A concert in celebration of his life will be held at a later date. In tribute, please continue his musical legacy by playing and performing.