NEC Alumni Obituaries
Obituaries appear in order of class year. They are assembled from newspaper reports and from information provided by family and friends of the deceased. Please contact us with information or to make corrections to these listings. Obituaries and links will remain on this page for at least one year after initial posting, as marked at the end of each entry.
1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s
obituaries of NEC faculty and friends
Mrs. Ernest Marsh ’16 B.M. 2/19/07
Florence Pinkerton Clements ’23 DP, piano, on January 14, 2006, in South Yarmouth, Mass. Clements helped organize and run the American Theater Wing's Cape Cod British War Relief effort during WWII, and was a major in the Mass. Women's Defense Corps. Following the war she wrote Cape historical columns for several weekly Cape Cod publications. 3/12/07
Esther Sands Hocker ’29 DP, voice, on January 24, 2008, in Falmouth, Mass. In 1996, NEC's Notes magazine published excerpts from letters home, written as a young student, that Hocker had salvaged. Hocker went on to study at L'Accademia Chigana in Siena, Italy, sang leading roles in operas in Westchester County, and joined the Dessoff Choirs. At age 60, living in St. Louis with her husband, she learned the harp. Upon returning to Massachusetts, she played in the Cape Cod Symphony. 4/11/08
Carlyle Nelson ’29 B.M., violin, on July 13, 2006, in Bakersfield, Calif. Nelson continued to play the violin up to the end of his life, his daughter reports. 4/11/08
Ruth Glazer, voice, on September 7, 2006, in Topsham, Mass. Glazer taught at Vassar College, Bennett College, and Eastman School of Music, where she was also concert manager. She served for two years as International President of the Association of College, University, and Community Arts Administrators. 3/7/07
Michael J. Abruzzese '31 DP, music education, on March 15, 2007, in Worcester, Mass. Worcester native who contributed to the musical life of his home town as a performer and educator, Abruzzese was violinist and assistant conductor of the Worcester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1936 to 1946. He taught at North High School, where he conducted the school band, orchestra, and choruses, and was the first music teacher at the new Burncoat High School before retiring in 1975. 4/23/07
Eleanor Edwards ’31 B.M., music education, on September 1, 2006, in Walpole, Mass. Music teacher in New Hampshire, Vermont, Rye, N.Y., Wellesley, Mass., Milton Academy, and elsewhere south of Boston. Edwards was also active in various churches as a sunday school teacher and choir director, and recieved the Mass. Council of Churches Lifetime Achievement Award in Christian Education. 3/7/07
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Anna Barnes Rowse ’31 DP, piano, on August 17, 2006, in Mason, N.H. Rowse taught piano and organ and was a church organist and choir director everywhere she lived, from Church of Christ in her home town of Bedford, Mass., to the Congregational Church of Littleton and finally Congregational Church of Mason, N.H., where she lived for the past 50 years. She and her husband, James, moved to Littleton after their marriage in 1932 to be near the family business, Veryfine Products, Inc., familiar to New England juice drinkers. Anna Rowse served on the board of the company, which introduced many innovations to the juice business over the years. Veryfine made news again when James Rowse sold the company to Kraft Foods shortly before his death in 2004 at age 96, distributing $15 million in profits to the 400 employees. 3/8/07
Harry S. Hull, Jr. ’32 B.M., piano, on January 10, 2006, in Sewickley, Pa. U.S. Army, WWII. Hull began his life insurance career in 1937 with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of N.Y., retiring "officially" in 1977 as agency manager of their Pittsburgh branch, but continuing to sell insurance into the 1990s. 2/19/07
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Norman Kelley '32 as Prince Shushky in Boris Godunov |
Norman Kelley ’32, voice, on September 4, 2006, in Rockland, Mass. After studies at NEC, Kelley attended Eastman and then served in the U.S. Army before beginning his career with the San Carlo Opera. In 1952, the tenor made his New York City Opera debut as the Magician Magadoff in Menotti's The Consul. Kelley's extensive NYCO career included leading roles in the world premieres of Kurka's The Good Soldier Schweik (1958), Ward's The Crucible (1961), Moore's The Wings of the Dove (1962), and Floyd's The Passion of Jonathan Wade (1962), as well as U.S. premieres of Orff's Der Mond (1956) and Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel (1965). Kelley's 1967 translation of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel was most recently heard at the Metropolitan Opera in 1996. 3/7/07
Iris (Federico) Pando ’32 B.M., piano, on December 18, 2006, in Canton, Mass. After studies at NEC, Pando graduated from Mass. College of Art in 1939, working her way through school as a piano teacher. During WWII, she launched her own business, Twin Art Studios, to produce handmade silkscreened greeting cards. During the 1950s and '60s, she gave private art lessons for children, and returned to MassArt for teacher certification at age 57. Iris Pando's family has requested that memorial donations be made to NEC in support of gifted students in financial need. For more information, please contact Susan Sandrof. 3/7/07
Dorothy Higgins Billingsley '33 DP, piano, in March 2007, in Odessa, Tex. A Boston native, Billingsley studied at NEC as a pre-college student before entering the adult diploma program. Her extensive performing career included radio broadcasts with the "Mason & Hamlin Piano Hour" and "Chickering Young Artist Series," tours with community orchestras throughout New England and New York state, the Boston Pops, and a Town Hall debut in New York. After marrying in the 1940s, she moved to Texas, where she maintained an active piano studio; she was a Hall of Fame member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers. Having secured a pilot's license as a young woman, she carried mail for the Fairy Fleet during WWII when all other pilots were at war. 4/23/07
Alexander Gelpe ’33 B.M., music education. 2/19/07
Olive M. (Spaniol) Hasson ’33 DP, piano, on July 2, 2006, in Northborough, Mass. Music and French teacher in the Silver Lake regional school district for 30 years. 3/8/07
Clare Morse Wing ’33 DP, piano, on March 7, 2006, in Hingham, Mass. Wing played organ at area churches, taught, and ran the civic chorus. Clare Morse Wing generously left a portion of her estate to NEC. 3/13/07
Antigone (Economides) Helmis ’34 DP, music education, on December 15, 2007, in Falmouth, Mass. Born in Turkey, Antigone Economides moved to Athens, Greece, as a child, then later to Massachusetts, when her father, the Rev. George Economides, was assigned to a parish in Peabody. She married Ernest J. Helmis, who owned and operated the New York Restaurant and Little New Yorker on Main Street in Falmouth; she herself was a businesswoman who specialized in property development. 4/11/08
Ann (Sadowski) Mendoza ’34 DP, piano, on September 19, 2006, in Springfield, Mass. Mendoza taught piano in Lawrence and Springfield. 3/8/07
Lillian (Lessard) Chasse ’35 B.M., piano, on July 21, 2006, in Kennebunk, Maine. Chasse taught piano and was organist in various Kennebunk-area churches. As a student at NEC, she was class secretary and photographer her junior and senior years. 3/7/07
Myrtle A. (Bowlin) Lemaire ’35 DP, music education, on August 28, 2006, in Reading, Mass. Lemaire was supervisor of music in the schools of Oakland, Maine, and regional music director in the schools of Hanover, Hanson, and Norwell, Mass. She was also active in church and community musical endeavors in Reading, and served on the Reading Council of the Arts. Online guest book. 3/8/07
Emily (Mescia) Colantonio '36 DP, piano, on August 2, 2007, in Needham, Mass. Taught organ and piano at home studio and at Boston Organ on Boston's "Piano Row." She also worked at daughter Linda Shumway's business, Plymouth Winery, until last summer. 1/4/08
Miriam (Atlas) Pizer ’36 DP, piano, on December 6, 2005, in Winthrop, Mass. Pizer taught piano in Winthrop for 72 years and served as scholarship chair for the New England Piano Teachers Association for 30 years. 3/12/07
Eleanor Congdon Putney ’36 B.M., voice, on November 18, 2007, in Blacksburg, Va.
Ethel (Zung) Rubin ’36 DP, piano, on January 15, 2008, in Providence, R.I. Rubin was a longtime piano teacher in the Providence area. Ethel Rubin's family has requested that memorial donations be made to NEC's Harold Whitworth Pierce Provost Scholarship. For more information, please contact Susan Sandrof. 4/11/08
Marjorie Barrows Libby ’37 B.M., violin, on December 4, 2006, in Brunswick, Maine. As a student, Marjorie Barrows played in the MacDowell Club Orchestra, conducted by Arthur Fiedler. After graduation, she returned to her native Brunswick and played in the Portland Symphony Orchestra. Honored by the Kiwanis Club in 1982 as Citizen of the Year. 3/7/07
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Lydia Woods ’37 DP |
Lydia Hinckley Woods ’37 DP, ’39 DP (soloists' diploma) , violin, on January 24, 2008, in Berkeley, Calif. Woods played the Chausson Poème with orchestra at her 1939 Commencement concert and went on to perform as a soloist, in chamber music, and in orchestras throughout her life. From the 1940s to the 1960s, Woods was concertmistress of the Mid-Columbia Symphony in Washington state, a member of the faculty trio at Whitman College, and a soloist with the Walla Walla Symphony. Other orchestras in which she performed include the San Jose and Santa Clara Symphonies in Calif., the Salem (Oreg.) Symphony, the Peter Britt and Alaska Festival orchestras, and the government-sponsored "People-to-People" orchestra, which toured Western and Eastern Europe and Russia. In 1967, Woods founded Camerata Musica in Richland, Wash., to present free monthly chamber music concerts to the community featuring talented regional artists. She created a similar organization in Salem, Oreg., after moving there in 1971. Both organizations continue to thrive today. Woods taught violin privately and was an officer in Mu Phi Epsilon Alumni Chapter. 4/11/08
Miriam (Palmer) Gates '38 DP, '39 B.M., music education, on August 15, 2007, in Newport, N.H. Resident of Charlestown, where she taught and was organist at area churches. 1/4/08
Rita (Moran) Holland ’38, piano, on October 25, 2006, in Saco, Maine. In 1961, Holland continued her studies at Gorham State Teachers College, then taught elementary music in Ansonia, Conn., and Ipswich, Mass., for 15 years, retiring in 1979. 3/8/07
Mary Alice McManus ’38 B.M., piano, on October 15, 2005, in Santa Monica, Calif. After graduation from NEC, McManus had a civil service job in Washington, D.C., then moved to California in 1955. She taught music therapy for 30 years at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Brentwood. Mary Alice McManus's family has requested that memorial donations be made to NEC in her name. For more information, please contact Susan Sandrof. 3/12/07
Kathryn (Batten) Shortell ’38, piano, on September 28, 2005, in Greenfield, Mass. Shortell was office manager for Threadwell Tap & Die Company of Greenfield during WWII, and later worked for the Steel Stamp Company of Greenfield. She was choir director of the First United Methodist Church of Greenfield, and a soloist with the Pioneer Valley Orchestra. 3/12/07
Virginia Vincent Chase Walley ’38 DP, piano, ’61 B.M., music education, on January 4, 2006, in Manchester, N.H. Walley taught piano and public school music in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. After retiring, she ran a bed and breakfast, The Macrobiotic Experience. 3/13/07
Pauline Young ’38 DP, violin, on December 11, 2006, in North Adams, Mass. Young taught music in the North Adams public schools almost without interruption from 1951 through her retirement in 1984. 3/7/07
Ida Bardwell Branch '39 DP, music education, on March 20, 2007, in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. In 1940, Ida Bardwell married Robert Mason Branch, whose family owned and operated Linekin Bay Camp in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where she had been a summer music supervisor. In 1946, they converted the girls' camp into a family sailing resort, and she became the hostess, a role she continued to fill until her retirement in 2000. In the 1950s and 1960s, Branch also ran a piano school from her home in Florence, Mass. Ida Branch's family has requested that memorial donations be made to the Students House Scholarship Fund at NEC. For more information, please contact Susan Sandrof. 4/23/07
Wanda (Elsing) Ferrari ’39, voice, on October 30, 2006, in Concord, Mass. 2/19/07
Florence Hughes Holland Krawczyk '39 B.M., piano, on April 17, 2007. During WWII, Krawczyk played piano in Boston nightclubs and had her own radio show. She was a music teacher and church organist. 1/4/08
Jacqueline (Hall) Sibley ’39 SS, voice, on October 20, 2006, in Marlborough, Mass. Sibley was a professional actress who ended her theatrical career with a 10-year run as Mrs. Schubert in the Boston production of Shear Madness. 3/8/07
Ruth (Miller) Goldin ’40 DP, vocal pedagogy, ’42 DP, ’67 B.M., voice. 2/19/07
May Marcia (Cohen) Homelson ’40 DP, piano, on September 29, 2005, in Bloomfield, Conn. Piano teacher in New Britain and Bloomfield. 3/12/07
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Leona B. Kerstetter ’41 with
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Andrew Blackmun
(photo courtesy DePauw University) |
Leona B. Kerstetter ’41, piano, in November 2006, in West Yarmouth, Mass. As the wife of William E. Kerstetter, who served as president of Simpson College in Iowa and DePauw University in Indiana, Leona Kerstetter was "first lady" of these institutions, and in that capacity entertained extensively within the school communities and supervised the interior design of more than a dozen campus buildings. 3/7/07
Frederic B. Langworthy ’41 DP, voice, on August 27, 2005, in Lancaster, N.H. Langworthy was employed by the Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston for 41 years, retiring in 1982. 3/12/07
Kalman Novak ’41 DP, piano, on August 20, 2006, in Lincoln, Mass. Novak taught on the piano faculty of the Longy School in the 1950s and 1960s. He served as interim director of the school in 1957-1958 and in 1961-1962, during a sabbatical and leave of absence by the director, Melville Smith. Online guest book. Kalman Novak's family has requested that memorial donations be made to an NEC scholarship fund in his name. For more information, please contact Susan Sandrof. 3/8/07
Margaret Clark Kimball Whipple '41 DP, piano, on November 24, 2007, in Groton, Conn. Taught piano in Groton area. 1/6/08
Grace Sullivan Bowen '42, music education, on June 2, 2007, in Falmouth, Mass. Founding member of Interfaith Choir in Falmouth. 1/4/08
Muriel Peterson Robinson Edgar ’42 DP, ’45 B.M., organ, on March 2, 2006, in Portsmouth, R.I. Muriel Peterson sang with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians in the late 1930s. She was minister of music at First Congregational Church in Braintree, Mass.; Glen Ridge Congregational Church in N.J.; and in Florida at the Stuart Congregational Church and Church of the Good Shepherd in Tequesta. While living in N.J., she taught at Bloomfield College. 3/12/07
Sheila Myrna Hoskins Irwin ’42, music education, on November 11, 2006, in Indian Wells, Calif. Irwin was choir director for All Saints Episcopal Church in Concord, Calif., where she also was a substitute music teacher and worked for the Charlotte Symphonette. 3/7/07
Laura Marguerite Snyder Decker '43 DP, voice, on January 26, 2007, in Bath, Maine. Decker worked for the Jordan Marsh company of Boston for 49 years, retiring in 1992. She then moved to Bath, where she worked for Brunswick Sewing and Vac Center until 2005. 4/23/07
John D. Boomer ’44 B.M., piano, on October 19, 2006, in Milford, Mass. After completing his studies at NEC, Boomer earned his master's from Boston University and taught music in the Auburn (Mass.) public schools through 1970, as well as giving private piano lessons. 3/7/07
John di Francesco ’44 B.M., voice, on September 20, 2005, in Oakland, Calif. Di Francesco was blinded by spinal meningitis at age two, and studied at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., prior to attending NEC. On a dare from friends, he called Ezio Pinza on a radio show and asked if he could sing for him. Pinza was so impressed that he paid for di Francesco's lessons with Enrico Rosati in New York, and included him in a 1949 television special. While in New York, di Francesco had a weekly radio program. He moved to California in 1957 and was named music director of the California School for the Blind in Berkeley, where he remained until the school moved in the late 1970s. In addition to his own singing, he founded the Vista Chamber Chorale in 1979 and was choir director at the Alameda Naval Air Station and Bay Area churches. He was married to a fellow NEC student, the late Muriel Cook di Francesco '44. 3/12/07
Isabel (Butterfield) Nichols ’44, music education, on November 19, 2005, in Antrim, N.H. Nichols taught music privately and at the Antrim School, and was composer, arranger, director, and performer for various localtheater groups. She played at many dances in the area and sang live on WBC radio. 3/12/07
Alice M. O’Brien ’44, music education, on November 23, 2005, in Plymouth, Mass. O'Brien taught in Somerville, Mass., her town of birth, and sang professionally as a member of Saints and Singers. She was a co-owner of Birch Acres Nursing Home for Alcoholics in Dublin, N.H., from 1957 to 1976. 3/12/07
Madeline Merrill Tole '44, music education, on September 16, 2007, in Walpole, N.H. Taught for 37 years in the Fall Mountain School District. Organist for Congregational Church of Walpole for more than 60 years. 1/6/08
Takouhi Chorbajian Der Manuelian ’45 DP, ’47 B.M., ’50 A.D., piano, on January 26, 2008, in New York. Der Manuelian was born while her family was escaping the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, and was brought from a desert tent to Aleppo, Beirut, and ultimately Medford, Mass. One of the early recipients of the Artist Diploma at NEC, she also received the Frank Huntington Beebe Scholarship and went on to live and study piano in Paris. She went on to a career as a concert artist overseas and in Carnegie Hall and Jordan Hall. Ultimately based in Belmont, she taught privately and at the Ecole Bilingue, Buckingham School, and Armenian Sisters Academy, and was organist at the Armenian Memorial Church. 4/11/08
Barbara (Foss) Roberts ’45, music education, on December 8, 2006, in Fayetteville, N.Y. Roberts played trumpet in her high school band in Laconia, N.H. After graduating from NEC, she taught in the public schools in Argyle, Trumansburg, and Fayetteville, N.Y., and gave private lessons in trumpet and piano. Online guest book. 2/19/07
Clara Elizabeth (Wells) Stevenson ’45, piano, on June 20, 2005, in Orlando, Fla. Stevenson was a piano teacher at Rollins College and an accompanist to the Winter Park Musicale, Orlando Opera Guild, and Martin Marietta Chorus. 3/12/07
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Sarah Caldwell '46, '79 hon. D.M. |
Sarah Caldwell '46, violin, '79 hon. D.M., on March 23, 2006. Link to resource page. 2/19/07
Roberta L. Humphrey ’46, voice, on November 27, 2005, in West Boothbay Harbor, Me. Worked in the admissions office at University of Albuquerque and moved to West Boothbay Harbor after the death of her husband. 3/12/07
Peter Cerullo '47 DP, bassoon, on June 4, 2007, in East Islip, N.Y. WWII veteran, 505th band unit. Cerullo was director of multiple high school bands and music department chair in the Brentwood (N.Y.) School District, and an active member of AFM Local 802. 1/4/08
David Donald Hicks '47, '50 M.M., music education, on August 5, 2007, in Belmont, Mass. WWII veteran, U.S. Army Air Force, piloted B-24 bomber on 30 combat missions including six as squadron lead pilot. Hicks completed his master's at NEC while playing in dance bands and on local radio programs to support his family; later taught piano and vocal ensemble in NEC's Popular Music department. He then chaired the performing arts department at Pine Manor College, and was organist and choirmaster at Wellesley Hills Congregational Church. 1/4/08
Joan M. (Hall) Monbourquette ’48, musicology, ’57 M.M., music education, on December 19, 2006, in Gloucester, Mass. Taught in Maine and Florida before returning to her native Gloucester to teach at Central Grammar School. Two years after marrying a high school classmate in 1965, she retired from teaching to raise a family. 3/7/07
Nicholas Cardinale ’49 DP, violin, in September 2006 2/19/07
Lucille (Young) Dressler ’49, vocal pedagogy, on January 11, 2007, in South Norwalk, Conn. Dressler was a member of the Troopers Light Opera Co. in Darien and sang in local churches and synagogues. She taught music at Nathan Hale Junior High School. 3/7/07
Jane (Knight) Holt ’49 DP, voice, on June 21, 2006, in Boxford, Mass. Online guest book. 3/8/07
Alfred G. Lague ’49, ’51 M.M., piano, on April 18, 2006, in Burlington, Mass. U.S. Army, 102nd Infantry, WWII. Lague, a past president of the Rhode Island Music Educators Association, retired in 1983 from the North Smithfield (R.I.) school system after 17 years as music director. Previously, he was director of music for the Woonsocket schools for 13 years. After 20 years as organist and choir director or Slatersville (R.I.) Congregational Church, he retired in November 2006. Before that, he was organist at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs church in Woonsocket for nearly 20 years. A founding member of the Al Lague Jazz Trio, Lague also performed piano duets with his son Robert Lague '68, '71 M.M. 3/12/07
Leonard G. Moss ’49, violin, on September 13, 2006, in Lincoln, Mass. U.S. Army, WWII (Africa and Italy). When Moss retired from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1996, after 43 years with the orchestra, he was its oldest active member. Moss's professional career began at age 14 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. After five years at Curtis, he studied at Peabody Conservatory and NEC, and had served stints with orchestras in New York, Dallas, and Cleveland before joining the BSO with the 1953 Tanglewood season. While a member of the BSO, he also volunteered with the Lincoln Sudbury Civic Orchestra and played in the pit orchestra at the Brooks School for more than 30 Gilbert and Sullivan shows. Online guest book. 3/8/07
Estelle H. (Alfonse) Nickerson '49, '51 M.M., music education, on November 26, 2006. 4/23/07
Doris A. (Cain) Pierce '49, voice, on February 13, 2007, in Horseheads, N.Y. Pierce was assistant manager for Cain's Store in the Arnot Mall. 4/23/07
Sylvia (Litwin) Snyder '49, piano, on July 22, 2007, in Walpole, Mass. 1/6/08
Raymond Wilson Stewart ’49, ’51 M.M., clarinet, on April 2, 2006, in Naples, Fla. U.S. Army Air Corps Band, WWII. Stewart taught and was band conductor at University of Bridgeport (Conn.), and also taught at Norwalk Community College. He played in many dance and jazz bands throughout his life, including his last, Dooley's Dixie Five in Naples. 3/12/07
Cynthia Bishop Brewster ’50 M.M., piano, on October 14, 2005, in Marblehead, Mass. WAVEs, WWII. After earning her bachelor's degree in music at Radcliffe in 1944, Brewster joined the WAVEs and was stationed in Washington, D.C., where she deciphered Japanese codes. At the conclusion of WWII, Brewster was discharged as a lieutenant and entered NEC. Upon completing her master's at NEC, she taught at Pine Manor College (then in Wellesley, Mass.) for ten years, until the birth of her first child. She resumed private teaching in the late 1960s, and joined the faculty of the Village Music School in Wellesley, where she taught and helped run the school until the its close in 2003. Brewster was an avid sailor and in 2004, at age 82, she could still maneuver her T-Class racing sloop, "Circe," in and out of crowded Marblehead Harbor by sail alone--she had never added a motor. 3/12/07
Loring T. "Pete" Briggs '50, on February 8, 2008, in Onancock, Va. The son of G. Wright Briggs of the NEC theory and composition faculty, Loring Briggs completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard and enrolled at NEC as a special student. He was an investment banker who spent most of his career on Wall Street; the firm from which he retired is now part of ING. Online guest book. 4/27/08
John R. Carmody '50 DP, composition, on February 17, 2008, in Peabody, Mass. U.S. Army, Korean Conflict. Carmody was a national sales manager for Procter & Gamble. A lifetime member of New York's Dramatist Guild, he wrote a play with music, A Cup of Sand. 4/27/08
Robert P. "Chappy" Chaplin '50, on March 4, 2008, in New Gloucester, Maine. U.S. Navy, WWII, Korean Conflict. Clarinetist who led Bob Chaplin Orchestra during the swing era, then studied at NEC after returning from WWII and taught band before being called back for active duty in Korea. He and his brother Harold led various manufacturing companies in Portland, Maine. Robert became a specialist in metal removal technology and served on Governor Longley's Committee for Vocational Education, while continuing to teach wind instruments on weekends. 4/27/08
Michael Laguta ’50, music education, on October 24, 2006, in Portsmouth, N.H. U.S. Navy, Korean War. Laguta taught in the Portland public schools from 1952 through his retirement in 1987, and directed the string orchestra program at two schools for 20 years. At the time of his retirement, he was an assistant principal. 3/8/07
John (Jack) Lewis Manuel Jr. '50, on December 6, 2007, in Rhode Island. U.S. Navy, WWII. Salesman for George Business Forms, lived in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. 4/27/08
Eugene Homer Ploof '50, '57 M.M., music education, on May 8, 2007, in Wilton, Me. WWII veteran, European theatre. Ploof originated the instrumental and vocal music program for the Berwick (Me.) area schools in 1951, and continued to teacher there for many years. 1/4/08
Cynthia Swift Prentice ’50, viola, on February 1, 2006, in New Haven, Conn. Prentice taught at University of Bridgeport, Sacred Heart University, the Weston School of Music, and from her home studio in Trumbull, Conn. She was violist in the Connecticut String Quartet and was most recently a member of the Bridgeport Symphony and the Connecticut Chamber Orchestra, having also performed with many other Connecticut orchestras. 3/12/07
Leo Francis Robinson ’50, piano, on March 12, 2006, in Fort Myers, Fla. U.S. Army Signal Corps, WWII. In the 1930s, before being called up for service in WWII, Robinson played professionally in big bands in Boston. After studies at NEC, he taught at the Hartt School of Music for 30 years, retiring in 1981. 3/12/07
George Zakarian ’50, on August 8, 2006, in Worcester, Mass. U.S. Army, WWII. Zakarian was a trombonist with many bands and orchestras in the Worcester area and was a past treasurer of the Worcester Musicians Union. He also taught at Lawrence Academy and Phillips Academy as well as at schools in Grafton, Framingham, Hudson, and Marlborough. 3/8/07
Margaret Stephens Zimmermann '50 M.M., music theory, on April 20, 2007, in Bethlehem, Pa. Zimmermann founded and performed with the Brainerd Trio in the 1970s and '80s, as well as playing cello with orchestras and chamber ensembles in the Lehigh Valley. She taught at Moravian College and Lafayette College. 1/6/08
Frank G. Bono '51, music education (with honors), '56, piano pedagogy, on December 25, 2007, in Rockland, Mass. U.S. Army, WWII. After serving as band director at schools in Georgia, Maine, and Quincy, Mass., Bono was Director of Music for the Rockland public schools from 1972 through his 1985 retirement. His brother Joseph Bono '50 and his first wife, the late Lorraine (Ward) Bono '51 also attended NEC. Online guest book. 4/27/08
Lorraine Alice Phillips Brill '51, music education, on November 21, 2007, in Hendersonville, N.C. Brill sang in choruses and as a soloist in the New York area prior to entering NEC. After graduation, she taught music and conducted choruses in Babylon, Long Island. 4/27/08
Lawrence W. Cochrane, Jr. ’51, piano, on May 7, 2006, in Port Charlotte, Fla. U.S. Army, Korean War. Cochrane taught at Pentucket Regional Junior High School in Groveland, Mass. 3/7/07
Ercolino Ferretti ’51, composition, on December 23, 2006, in North Providence, R.I. U.S. Army, WWII. In pursuit of his interest in electronic music, Ferretti studied at MIT and established the firm Ferretti-Lay with Michael Lay '62. Ferretti was honored at the 1992 International Computer Music Conference in San Jose, Calif. 3/7/07
William H. Grass, Jr., ’51, ’55 M.M., flute, on November 9, 2005, in Wellesley, Mass. Grass was a member of the Pro Arte Woodwind Quintet and a freelance orchestra player with the BSO, Opera Company of Boston, and Boston Ballet. Among his former students is Elizabeth Mann, principal flute of the Orchestra of St. Luke's and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. 3/12/07
Elizabeth "Betsy" (Johnston) Ostroff '51, flute, on December 2, 2007, in Concord, Mass. Flutist in the Bangor (Maine) Symphony, then longtime resident of Sudbury, Mass. 4/27/08
Irene A. (Nasson) Regan '51, organ, on April 27, 2007, in Whitman, Mass. Regan was a justice of the peace and a paralegal in the law office of her husband, Denis Regan; the Regans owned Golf City in West Bridgewater. 1/4/08
Richard Byron Wetmore ’51, composition, on January 4, 2007 2/19/07
Robert E. Estes ’52, music education, on October 12, 2006, in Fredericksburg, Va. U.S. Navy, WWII, radar technician on the USS Lake Champlain. Estes was president of his class at NEC, and went on to teach music in Connecticut public schools for 35 years. After retirement, he founded and conducted the Durham (N.C.) Chorale for 15 years. In 2002, he and his wife, Polly, relocated to her home town in the Fredericksburg area, and continued musical activities with their church and with Robert as founder and conductor of the Spotsylvanians and the Falls Run Singers. Online guest book. 3/7/07
William Thomas Holbert '52, trombone, on January 12, 2008, in Cortland, N.Y. Holbert was a career serviceman through his retirement in 1975, at which point he had received numerous awards including 10 good conduct medals and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three bronze stars. His final military gig was with the U.S. Military Band at West Point, which performed at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration. Following his retirement from the military, Holbert performed with Circus Vargas and other bands, ranging from polkas to opera, and was stage manager and principal trombonist with the Boca Raton (Fla.) Pops. He was Performing Manager for Local 291 of the Musicians Union in Newburgh, N.Y. He was also well known in the trombone world through his quest for the "perfect mouthpiece." 1/28/08
John H. Rhea, Jr. '52 DP, '57, '59 M.M., trumpet, on May 24, 2007. Rhea played in dance and show bands for Fred Waring, Guy Lombardo, Shelley Berman, and others; was a substitute with the BSO and Boston Pops; and was first trumpet in the Milwaukee Symphony and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He retired from music in 1973 to enter the field of data processing, and helped create and chaired the data processing department at Bliss College. 1/6/08
Arlene Siegel ’52, cello. 2/19/07
Chester Fanning Smith '52 M.M., piano, on February 23, 2007, in Sarasota, Fla. Awarded Purple Heart in WWII. Smith graduated from Harvard in 1950, and having made his concert debut in Minneapolis in 1949, continued to pursue his musical ambitions with graduate work at NEC and Yale. He performed extensively as a soloist and in chamber ensembles throughout the U.S., Europe, Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. Smith taught at Rutgers University for 25 years, and served as chair of the music department. He was organist at the North Reformed Church in Newark until 2001. 4/23/07
Richard William Tillery ’52, voice, on September 25, 2006, in Birmingham, Ala. U.S. Air Force, WWII (European theater) and Korean War. Tillery was soloist or choir director at several Knoxville (Tenn.) churches, and worked as a teacher, investment company representative, magazine feature writer, photographer and/or editor for several dozen publications. 3/7/07
Carol (Walker) Arnold ’53, piano, on August 18, 2006, in Lanikai, Hawaii. Arnold moved around the country with her Air Force husband, ending up in Hawaii in 1964, where she attended University of Hawaii and received her M.L.S. in 1971. She worked as a librarian at the East West Center and then as a library administrator for the University of Hawaii School of Public Health, until her retirement in 1988. She then resumed to musical activity, teaching piano and singing with the Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble. 3/7/07
Joseph Rizzo ’53, piano, on January 7, 2006, in Broomall, Pa. Rizzo was a music teacher in Haverford Township schools for 38 years and led the high school band, retiring in the early 1990s. He was organist, founding choir director, and a eucharistic minister at St. Pius X Church in Broomall. In later years, he had become active in various country-western dance groups and went on dancing cruises. 3/12/07
Keith Elwyn Sherburne '53, on October 26, 2007, in Scarborough, Me. 1/6/08
Albin Tamosiunas '53, music education, on August 25, 2007, in Worcester, Mass. WWII veteran, U.S. Navy. Tamosiunas taught instrumental music in the Worcester public schools for 44 years. 1/6/08
Sona (Asbed) Haydon ’54, piano, on October 29, 2005, in St. Louis, Mo. Haydon taught at Washington University in St. Louis beginning in 1974, and in 2001 inaugurated the school's Young Artist Piano Concerto Competition for precollege musicians. Her video textbook Piano Technique: Is There Only One Way?--based on her research following a serious injury to her right hand--is published by Alfred. Henry Duckham '54 was formerly married to Haydon and writes: "At NEC she was a student of Howard Goding and Lucille Monaghan, graduating with honors and performing the Schumann Piano Concerto with the NEC Orchestra. Her many years of teaching in the St. Louis community generated a large and loyal following of former private and university pupils, many of whom attended the memorial service. A memorial concert was held in her honor at Washington University on January 28, 2006." 3/12/07
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Coretta Scott King '54, '71 hon. D.M. |
Coretta Scott King '54, music education, '71 hon. D.M. Link to resource page.
Half a century ago, scholarship assistance made it possible for a young violinist and singer, Coretta Scott, to travel from Alabama to Boston to study music at New England Conservatory. While Coretta Scott King ’54, ’71 hon. D.M. is best remembered as one of the great civil rights leaders of the 20th century, music remained an important part of her life. The Coretta Scott King Endowed Scholarship Fund at NEC honors her legacy, and is intended to help young musicians experience the education Mrs. King received. To make a donation to this fund, please contact Marian Alper. 2/19/07
Jacqueline (Heckert) Hawk ’55, voice, on March 1, 2006, in Camp Hill, Pa. Hawk taught music in the Cumberland Valley schools for 25 years and directed choirs in the greater Harrisburg area. 3/12/07
George Guilbault ’56, orchestral conducting, on July 4, 2006, in Peabody, Mass. One of the last students to complete NEC’s Popular Music diploma in the 1950s, Guilbault founded and conducted the Wintersauce Chorale and arranged for the Ray Charles Singers and Perry Como, while keeping his hand in the classical world with his composing and through involvement with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society. He was well known in the business world as founder and director of the Benefits Consulting Group at the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray, and as an advisor to Harvard and MIT. As a member of NEC's Board of Visitors, Guilbault joined forces with his wife, Janice, and his friend, fellow alumnus William Brohn '58 M.M., to fund the Musical Theater Scholarship at NEC. 3/7/07
Thomas Christopher Christie ’57, music education, on January 12, 2006. U.S. Army, Korean War. In the late 1940s, while still in his teens, Christie began playing drums professionally, and was drummer and bandleader of the house band at the Christopher Ryder House in Chatham, Mass. After completing degrees at NEC, Framingham State College, and UMass/Amherst, he was a music teacher and guidance conselor in the Acton-Boxborough (Mass.) school system through his retirement in 1985. He then worked for the Defense Contract Audit Agency for 20 years. 3/12/07
Natalie Goregliad ’57, voice, on November 20, 2004, in Florida. Born in Russia, Goregliad came to the U.S. at age 22. In addition to her studies at NEC, she earned a bachelor's degree in biology and physiology from Hunter College. 2/19/07
Carlo Racamato '57, music therapy, on January 21, 2008, in Newtown, Pa. Racamato served in the U.S. Marine Corps after WWII, then lost his sight due to illness at age 20, at which point he pursued degrees at NEC, Univ. of Bridgeport (Conn.), and Univ. of Maryland. Psychoterapist in the counseling centers of colleges and universities in Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, and Washington, then became Psychologist at Trenton (N.J.) State College from the late 1970s through his 1990 retiremeng. Married to Claire Durand-Racamato '58. 4/27/08
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Joseph Roche '57, '59 M.M. |
Joseph Roche '57, '59 M.M., violin, on July 24, 2007, in Minneapolis, Minn. Roche was a member of the Minnesota Orchestra first violin section for 35 years, and was visiting Minneapolis at the time of his death. Born in Madras, India, his studies at NEC brought him to the U.S., where he remained when he was hired by Minnesota the year he completed his master's degree here. From the 1960s through the 1980s, Roche was also a member of the Macalester Trio. Joseph and his wife, singer Sarita Roche '63, had settled in Sarasota, Fla., as their retirement destination in the 1990s, and Joseph continued to perform with the Florida West Coast Symphony. Former WQXR-NY classical radio host June LeBell described him as "probably one of the best-known orchestral musicians in the country because he was so outgoing." The Roches have been active in hosting and participating in NEC alumni events, and Joseph received the Outstanding Alumni Award at Reunion in May. Online guest book. 8/2/07
Walter V. Tokarczyk ’57, ’59 M.M., percussion, on November 9, 2005, in Natick, Mass. After completing his master's at NEC, Tokarczyk played in a U.S. Army band for two years, taught in Natick, then became the first percussion teacher in the Waltham public schools in 1966. In 32 years of teaching in Waltham, he taught elementary percussion classes and directed junior high/middle school bands as well as the high school percussion ensemble. After retiring from Waltham, he returned to teach part-time in Natick. Tokarczyk also taught privately and at local colleges; among his former students is rock drummer Mike Mangini (The Extreme, Steve Vai). A freelancer with the Boston Pops, BSO, and pit orchestras, Tokarczyk also performed at the opening of the Chateau de Ville dinner theatre in Framingham, and accompanied such stars as Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, and Bob Hope. 3/13/07
Judith Leigh Brown ’58, music education, on June 8, 2006, in Bellerose, N.Y. Brown was organist at First Parish Church of Newbury (Mass.), and was head reservationist for Pan American Airlines. 3/7/07
Richard A. Beauregard '59, voice, on January 25, 2008, in Canaan, Vt. After graduation from NEC, Beauregard returned to Canaan to work on his family's farm, then held manufacturing jobs and founded Squeegee Printers with his wife. Online guest book. 4/27/08
David deLisle ’59, ’61 M.M., piano, on August 4, 2006, in Atlanta, Ga. DeLisle taught piano and music theory at Xavier University in New Orleans for more than 40 years. Best known as a collaborative pianist, he accompanied violinist Darwyn Apple, tenor John Miles, Metropolitan Opera regional auditions, and the Boston Ballet, as well as many New Orleans performers. 3/7/07
Thomas P. Mills '59, organ, '71 M.M., choral conducting, on November 15, 2007, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Mills moved to Martha's Vineyard in 1961 and became the island's sole teacher for the high school, where he founded the Minnesingers in 1967. The group is still active and tours. After completing his master's, he became music director for the Walpole, Mass., school system and a summer resident of the Vineyard, then moved to Jacksonville, Fla., in 1981, where he also taught. He served as a church organist and choir director throughout this time. 4/27/08
Yvette Capillon Best '60, '62 M.M., music education, on August 4, 2007. Yvette grew up in Attleboro, Mass., and was her high school valedictorian. She met her future husband, bassoonist Crawford Best '63 M.M., while they were both college students working in Yellowstone National Park. After completing degree work at NEC, the couple moved to New Orleans, where they lived for 30 years, with Crawford playing in the New Orleans Symphony and Yvette teaching music in public and private schools. 1/4/08
Frank Clark ’60 Cert., popular music, ’62, voice, ’71 M.M., music education, on January 1, 2007, in Cumberland, Maine. While in high school, Clark sang on "The Jerry Kearney Variety Show" at WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H. At NEC, he was president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity. Upon completing his master's at NEC, he became director of music for the Yarmouth (Maine) school department, where he led marching bands during the annual Yarmouth Clam Festival parade through his retirement in 1997. He then became an instrument salesman and worked for the State of Maine Tourism Bureau in Yarmouth. 3/7/07
Robert L. Mogilnicki ’60, music education, on October 20, 2005, in New Bedford, Mass. Mogilnicki completed master's and doctorate degrees in education from Boston University and was past president of the New England Philosophy of Education Society. He taught at BU and Bridgewater State College, and played trumpet with the Boston Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony. Mogilnicki received the Marian Medal for service to the Fall River Diocese, and had served as a Eucharist minister at various churches. 3/12/07
Robert Donaldson '63, voice, on July 27, 2005, in Queens Village, N.Y. 4/27/08
Elaine Dorothy Wolfson ’64, vocal pedagogy, on January 18, 2006, in Sarasota, Fla. As director of music at South Portland (Maine) High School, Wolfson was instrumental in the creation of barber shop quartets, Madrigal Singers, and theater productions. After moving to Sarasota in 2003, Wolfson continued teaching privately and at the Out of Door Academy. 3/13/07
John J. "Jack" L'Ecuyer '66, piano, on May 9, 2007, in Merrimack, N.H. L'Ecuyer taught piano in Nashua, N.H., and was on the music faculty of St. Paul's School in Concord for 28 years and Director of Keyboard Studies from 1992 to 2001. From 1965 to 2004 he was organist and choir director of First Baptist Church in Nashua, where he supervised the installation of a classic mechanical organ in 1982 and was named Organist Emeritus in 2006. L'Ecuyer wrote music reviews for the Nashua Telegraph, and work as a radio announcer included BSO's "Evening at Symphony" for WCRB in the early 1960s. Founder and past president of New Hampshire Music Teachers Association, recipient of NHMTA Member-Teacher of the Year award in 1992. 1/4/08
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Sheldon "Shelly" Morgenstern '66 M.M., orchestral conducting, on December 17, 2007, in Geneva, Switzerland. Morgenstern founded the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, N.C., in 1962, retiring in 1997. Jason and Wynton Marsalis are among EMF's alumni. Morgenstern conducted concert and radio orchestras throughout North America and Europe. His counsel was sought by a wide variety of musical organizations, and he served on the Leadership Council of the Southern Poverty Law Center as well as on boards of the Avery Fisher Artist Program and Kent/Blossom Music Festival. He received two ASCAP programming awards. In 2001, he wrote No Vivaldi in the Garage: A requiem for classical music in North America (Northwestern). 4/27/08
Byron A. Thomas ’68 M.M., choral conducting, on June 30, 2006, in California 2/19/07
William L. Vincent ’68, voice, on December 6, 2005, in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. Vincent taught in Toronto at Ryerson University, the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, and his own Voices and Company Studio, as well as in Montreal, Los Angeles, Bangkok, and Parrsboro. In addition to his private teaching, he served as vocal consultant for recording companies and musical theater productions, and appeared on Candadian television. 3/13/07
Craig Smith '69, '72 M.M., piano, on November 14, 2007, in Boston. Link to NEC press release. 11/19/07
Wayne F. Stonkus ’70 M.M., music education, on October 22, 2005, in Peabody, Mass. Stonkus was a music teacher in Danvers, Mass., for 31 years, retiring in 2004. He was choir director for St. John the Baptist Church and a cantor at the Carmelite Chapel, both in Peabody. 3/12/07
Christopher Carlson '72 M.M., choral conducting, on February 25, 2005. Carlson was a former director of the Heritage Chorale of Framingham, Mass. 4/23/07
Albert Rawlins '72 M.M., early music, on December 16, 2007, in Columbia, Md. Rawlins taught vocal music in Chicago and Connecticut, and was a performer and lecturer with early music ensembles in Connecticut, Michigan, and Illinois. At South Congregational Church in Hartford, Rawlins sang in the choir, directed the children's choir, and taught recorder. 4/27/08
Julia Gabaldon ’73, oboe, on August 15, 2006, in Cambridge, Mass. Gabaldon studied at NEC with the late Ralph Gomberg of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and later completed a Bachelor of Music degree at UMass/Boston. She was principal oboist for the Brookline Symphony and North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed in other Boston-area orchestras. Beginning in the late 1980s, Gabaldon entered the field of emergency preparedness, and worked in this capacity for Boston Edison and local hospitals, as well as in Brazil. 3/7/07
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| Elizabeth Parcells ’74, ’77 M.M. |
Elizabeth Parcells '74, '77 M.M. , voice, on December 29, 2005, in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. Link to story. 2/19/07
Patricia J. (Dillon) Moore ’77 M.M., choral conducting, on July 27, 2006, in Westford, Mass. Moore pursued music studies in her forties, after having received her original bachelor's degree from University of Texas, Austin, with a zoology/music double major. She was minister of music at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Chelmsford, and had also been organist for other area places of worship, as well as having started the One Penny Opera Company. 3/8/07
Mary Jo Sanna Barron ’77 M.M., music education, on May 13, 2006, in Austin, Tex. Following her NEC studies, Sanna became more deeply involved in ethnomusicology research, and produced work on Bessie Jones of the Georgia Sea Island Singers. In 2001, after being diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, she became director of education at Austin's Breast Cancer Resource Center. 3/7/07
Anthony Coulton "Tony" Leonard '77, jazz studies (percussion), on May 2, 2007, in Atlanta, Ga. While still a student at NEC, Leonard traveled as a U.S. delegate to the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Cultures in Lagos, Nigeria, at which time he had the opportunity to perform with Fela Kuti and the Senegalese Drummers of Dakar, Senegal. He later did studio work with Jaki Byard, George Russell, Webster Lewis, and Marvin Gaye, and continued to work as a producer and teacher. At the time of his death, Leonard had begun work on a master's in Christian Education at the Interdenominational Theological Center. Online guest book. 1/4/08
Danuta Adamiak Sara-Wysocka '78 M.M., voice, on February 13, 2007, in Cary, N.C. 4/23/07
Nina (Hollifield) Bergeron '81, organ, on October 17, 2007, in Gloucester, Mass. In addition to her studies at NEC, Bergeron studied organ under Heinz Wunderlich at the Hamburg Musikhochschule as a Fulbright scholar. She was cofounder and director of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Regional Chir School and Lawrence (Mass.) Boys Choir from 1984 to 1989, in addition to her private studio teaching in voice and piano and her work as a church organist. She was also a member of the Cape Ann Symphony Board of Directors. 1/4/08
Mark F. Jason ’81, percussion, on August 2005, in South Carolina. Jason had various music industry jobs, most recently as a consultant for the design and manufacturing of percussion instruments. 3/12/07
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Dana Brayton '84 M.M. |
Dana Brayton ’84 M.M., composition, on July 3, 2006, while on a long-distance bicycle trip. Brayton was on the Boston Conservatory's composition faculty, having taught previously at UMass/Dartmouth and Berklee. The Boston Conservatory has presented productions of three of Brayton's works of music theater: The Things They Carried (based on Tim O'Brien's book), Surviving Coyote, and All Lost to Prayers. Brayton worked on film scores for Prefontaine, A Walk on the Moon, Limbo, and Fast, Cheap & Out of Control. TBC President Richard Ortner said: "We knew Dana as a teacher of exceptional ability ... and as a composer who sought a uniquely compelling voice to tell us powerfully moving stories." 3/7/07
Ruth Elizabeth (Allen) Hodkinson ’88 M.M., musicology, on June 6, 2006, in Natick, Mass. Hodkinson was a piano teacher who also sang in the Chatham Chorale and played clarinet with the Barnstable Town Band while bringing up her two daughters on Cape Cod. 3/8/07
Andrew Starr Kyte ’03, horn, on July 27, 2006, in Providence, R.I., after being stricken at home. Kyte had opportunities to perform in Boston's Symphony Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall. Following his NEC studies, he completed a master's degree at New York University. 3/8/07