70 years of teaching piano!(The Back Page)

I was completely surprised when I received the letter recognizing my being a member of the Music Teachers National Association for 50 years. Time vanishes when one is busy.

I have to give thanks to my wonderful parents for their deep love of family life and teaching us the value of working hard for the things we wanted most in life.

My older sister taught me the first two years of piano lessons using the old English Matthew Course. She was extremely strict with me, which, fortunately, gave me a good foundation for my entry into junior high school. I fell in love with the music classes taught by Luther Goodhart and Miss Drexel, who tested our voices. After class, Mr. Goodhart called me aside and told me to be sure to sign up for chorus since he felt I had a good voice and a sense of rhythm. Yes, I joined the chorus and started piano lessons, too. I sang the leads in three operettas and was encouraged to study piano with a private piano teacher.

So, off I went to senior high school and joined the chorus for three years and had two wonderful teachers, Miss Shearer and Miss Hassler. I also started private piano lessons with our church organist, Mrs. Ella Lease. She was very strict, always spending 10 minutes at her dining room table doing all kinds of finger exercises. She soon discovered that I liked to sing and invited me to join her church choir. I was the youngest choir member at age 13, but the music never seemed too difficult. I felt useful at church and continued singing in that same choir for 60 years. I also was a member of a girl's chorus that traveled around Berks County and later joined the Reading Opera Society.

As I was graduating from high school, the Great Depression set in and that stopped my dream of going to college. Instead, I worked in a knitting mill for four years to help my mother keep up with household expenses and continue my piano and voice lessons.

In 1933, my mother and I decided that I should move on with my piano study. I chose Miriam Heisler after attending one of her piano recitals, and from then on, my music study took on a different outlook. Through her instruction, I was offered a music scholarship with The Arts Publication Society from St. Louis, Missouri, in 1934. This was my inspiration to work hard. As a result, I had prepared my memorized piano music program plus all the theory lessons so that I could attend a summer school course at Washington University in St. Louis. The first day I arrived at the school, I learned of a special course that was being offered during our free afternoon hours. It sounded good, and I signed up. ...