COEUR d’ALENE — Sitting on a pew in Fort Sherman Chapel on Tuesday afternoon, Yvonne Deitz, Larry Strobel and Bob and Janet Haakenson didn't seem like they were in their late 70s and early 80s.

It was easy to imagine them as the children and teens they once were when they performed under the direction of the late band and orchestra director Ray Fahringer, a mentor and friend they cherished.

"We adored him," Janet said. "He taught us more than music."

"He was a high-powered disciplinarian," Strobel said. "He didn't waste time. If we were going to be there, he wanted us to be doing something. And you know, I was kind of afraid of him."

"We all were," Deitz added, causing everyone to chuckle.

When Fahringer snapped his fingers, he could quiet a room. When he roared, "Thunder!" at his students' wrong notes or misbehavior, they shook in their boots.

But when he taught, he taught for life. And nearly 100 years after Fahringer was first hired to teach music at Coeur d'Alene High School, his lessons live on through his students who are still active in the music community.

Deitz teaches violin and is currently giving lessons to her 8-year-old grand-niece. Although she took a bit of a break, she has been steadily playing the violin since 1984.

Strobel has been a French horn player since he was a sophomore in high school. He played in a military band when he joined the service in his 20s and went on to form the Perfection-Nots, a group of all-class high school musicians that march in the Fourth of July parade each year.

Bob played trumpet in a few bands as a youth and took a 40-year break, but later became an active performer with Coeur d'Alene Big Band and plays alongside his wife, Janet, in the North Idaho College Wind Symphony.

All four of these former pupils are active performers in the Panhandle Symphony Orchestra and have long lists of performance groups, concerts, shows and more that they have played in through the years.

"I think Mr. Fahringer would be so proud right now if he saw how involved we are," Janet said.

"He would say, 'Thunder! Hit that note right,'" Bob said with a smile.

Deitz, Strobel and the Haakensons are just a small sample of the many students Fahringer influenced in his 35-year tenure at Coeur d'Alene High School. But Fahringer touched many other lives in his lifetime.

"He wasn't just the band director," Strobel said. "He was very prominent in the community."

He described Fahringer as a hunter, a fisher, a tennis player and a golfer.

"He would need money to buy instruments," Strobel said. "He was known to go to the golf course, meet up with somebody and bet money. He was betting he could beat them, and if he did they'd pay the money to him for the bet and he'd put it on the band."

Fahringer was so loved in the community that a special event, "A Day for Ray," was organized by the Rotary Club — of which he was a member — when he announced his retirement in 1952. About 600 area high school students joined in the parade, which was followed by a reception and a concert at North Idaho Junior College. Schools were let out early so local students could attend the parade, according to a May 5, 1952 article in The Press.

"We gave him a fly fishing creel and a rod and a Pendleton jacket," Bob said. "That was the class of '53."

Fahringer ended up staying at CHS one more year until one of his former students, Gilbert Burns, could take over for him. In an April 23, 1953 Press article, Fahringer reflected on his teaching career.

"This is rather a sad occasion for me as it is my last concert as director here," Fahringer said. "I have enjoyed my work with the boys and girls and it has been my desire and ambition to make them musicians and also to help them know a little more about life."

Fahringer began a legacy of dedicated, long-time music instructors at CHS. Only three teachers have followed in his footsteps, as each has committed more than 20 years to the position.

"I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to be able to stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before me. Raymond Fahringer, Gilbert Burns and John Terris are the only other band/orchestra directors in our school's history. They laid down a very solid foundation for all of us to build on — many of the practices and traditions are still alive today in our marching band, pep band, orchestra, etc.," said CHS instrumental music director Jim Phillips.

"Mr. Fahringer's legacy is impossible to measure," he continued. "The influence he had on those generations of students is still felt to this day in our community. I don't have any aspirations to leave a legacy such as Fahringer's, but if I can convince even one of my students to continue playing their instrument and contributing to the musical community after high school, then I feel I will have been a success. Living up to the legendary status of my predecessors cannot be my goal — as I am sure they would have said, it really is all about the students in front of you today."

Fahringer will be inducted into the Inland Northwest Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library at 7 p.m. Friday. Regional historian and personal friend of Fahringer, Robert Singletary, will give a presentation about Fahringer as the final in the Inland Northwest Hall of Fame series. Friends, students and colleagues of Fahringer's are encouraged to attend. Several will be present to help honor and celebrate their beloved music leader.

The library is located at 702 E. Front Ave.

Info: www.cdalibrary.org/events