He came for the air-conditioning, the first of its kind in Kansas City, but he stayed for the opportunity to build a school up from nothing — a perspective he applied to his students.

On Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, the North Kansas City School District lost a beloved former member of the district, Dr. Dan Kahler. He passed away surrounded by his children and family in Florida.

Kahler was an active member in the school district serving as principal at all four schools in the district including 21 years at Oak Park, plus coming out of retirement to work one year at North Kansas City and one year at Winnetonka high schools, and one day at Staley High School in 2008. He was there to shake the hands of Staley students, who walked into school as he served for principal for a day on Oct. 14.

For a large chunk of his career, Kahler worked at Oak Park as the principal for the first two decades the school was open. Before OP opened, there were lots of decisions to be made. What would the school mascot be? What would be the new school colors? Instead of making the choices himself, he went to his students at Northtown.

“He was very much into the students developing the high school,” said current OP Principal Mark Maus. “There are handwritten notes between him and Northtown students discussing and talking about things that they wanted to see in their high school. Students picked the colors, the mascot, they wrote the Alma Mater, they helped develop the crest and all of those different things were done by our students.”

What many people remember about Kahler was his incredible ability to recall details about students and staff even after not seeing them for many years at a time.

“He could recall things that you wouldn’t think he could recall,” said retired administrator Rick Dayoub. “He was very aware with the students that he had in the community and he took notice. It was impressive because he could see you one time in 10 years and know who you are, know your background, know your history. It was just tremendous.”

One thing Kahler developed over his years at OP was naming the graduating classes.

“One of the unique things about Dr. Kahler was that he named every [graduating] class,” Maus said. “He would always ask [alumni] “what class were you from” and people would say class of 1982 and he’d go “That’s the class of Blue on Blue.” He would always be able to remember what class you were from and what he had named that class.”

Kahler not only impacted the students at the school, but the faculty as well.

“I pretty much owe my career to Dr. Kahler,” said retired OP P.E. teacher and current tennis coach Tana Stock.

Stock was one of the last teachers at OP, who was personally hired by Kahler.

“I was an [instructional assistant] at Oak Park as soon as I got out of college; and then I went and worked two years after that in the Hickman Mill district. During those two years, Dr. Kahler really wanted me back and he said to me “you’re the type of teacher we want at Oak Park.”

For awhile Stock wasn’t to be hired back at OP, so Kahler took matters into his own hands.

“The guy that hires people went out of town and [Dr. Kahler] hired me before the other guy came back,” Stock said. “He said ‘What are they going to do, fire me? I’m retired.’ I basically owe my career at Oak Park to Dr. Kahler because I stayed 30 years after that and I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”

Dying at the age of 89, Kahler was a man who wouldn’t be forgotten.

“If you met him you would remember him. He was tall, about 6’5, thin, very intellectual. He was very bright, could quote poetry, [and] authors, he was well read. He just knew a lot of things about a lot of things,” Dayoub said.

If you you would like to share your memories of Dr. Kahler, read this link to learn how: https://northmennews.com/3470/news/share-your-memories-of-dr-dan-kahler/#sthash.8DVhz3Im.dpbs

OP journalism will continue to cover the celebrations of Kahler’s life as they come up.

His obituary is available at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansascity/obituary.aspx?n=dan-kahler&pid=176750289

Links to other media coverage:

• First principal of Oak Park High School passes away in Florida – POSTED 2:11 PM, DECEMBER 1, 2015, BY MICHELLE PEKARSKY AND SUSAN HILAND – http://fox4kc.com/2015/12/01/first-principal-of-oak-park-high-school-passes-away-in-florida/
• Flashback Centennial Moment: Dr. Dan Kahler – Published on Oct 24, 2012 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HICrCA_0lI4
• Flashback: Dr. Dan Kahler – Retired Principal – Uploaded on Feb 16, 2011 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWkeASEYpIg
• About Oak Park – http://www.nkcschools.org/page.cfm?p=1477
• Longtime Northland principal ready for his next adventure – POSTED 9:02 PM, MARCH 6, 2014, BY SUSAN HILAND, http://fox4kc.com/2014/03/06/longtime-northland-principal-ready-for-his-next-adventure/
• The Dan Kahler Years 1965-1986 – link to a video interview – http://www.oakparkhistory.com/Video/video.asp