Michiana couple remembers long time band director

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The John Glenn School Corporation is remembering a man who worked in the community for more than 32 years.

Long-time Band Director Daniel Fortlander passed away unexpectedly on Saturday at the age of 60.

The beloved teacher and mentor is being honored on a blog, written by a former student. Cody Collier, a radio DJ and contemporary Christian recording artist, posted the blog on his website earlier this week. He wanted the community to know how much “Fort” will be missed.

Cody and his wife, Ashlie, met ABC 57 News on Thursday to share their memories of their former band director and also talk about their own story.

Ashlie works as an attorney at Jones Obenchain, LLP in South Bend. They allowed her to leave work on Thursday to meet Cody at the WFRM studios to comb through photos of their time in high school. As pointed out in the blog, the two met while traveling with the band in high school.

“We’ve always found it unique that we have this pivotal moment in our lives, where we can trace back to the moment where we met and first fell in love,” said Ashlie.

Their love story can be found in Cody’s blog (live link: http://www.codycolliermusic.com/blog/in-unison-we-thank-you-mr-fortlander ), along with a memorial to Mr. Fortlander.

Funeral services will be held Friday, June 16, 2017 at 3 PM Eastern Time at John Glenn High School.