Maine Motif Maine Motif May 2017 Issue 3 Volume I | Page 8

Remembering Jan Kok
By Silvia (Sam) Moore-Young, State Executive Director
As I go along with my daily routine of teaching 3-5 general
music, band, and chorus, I forget that I have been doing this for
many decades and that the years are catching up with me. It has
been 41 years since I graduated UMPG/USM, which does not
seem at all possible. I was thinking of this last night, April 8th,
and on a whim, Googled a music educator whom I never met
but who was the first teacher to nudge me to a career in music.
It was with sadness that Google took me to his obituary as he
passed away this past March 11th at the age of 96.
His name was Jan Kok, born in the Netherlands in 1921 and
who came to the United States by chance, not design, in 1939
for what was supposed to be a one year visit with friends. In
1940, the beginnings of World War II prevented his returning
home. His parents were able to escape on the last ship to leave Europe. Jan became a
U.S. citizen and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in General Studies at the University of
Washington, a Master of Music at University of Oregon at Eugene, and a Master of Arts
in Musicology and Composition at Harvard University. In 1951, his career brought him
to Maine, specifically Presque Isle and a faculty position at the college, holding many
positions during his tenure. Jan retired in 1987.
Jan and Evelyn Kok receiving the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement
Award for 2013.