I found out this week that my high school band teacher passed away (at the age of 55) from a heart attack on Memorial Day. I have been saddened by this a lot this week. It's not that I was particularly close to this teacher, but he awoke something in me that wasn't there before having him as a teacher. His name was Steve Werpy - Dr Steve Werpy, actually. He worked very hard to get his PhD - in fact was working on it when he taught me my senior year. He was an associate professor a Dickinson State University, and they are holding a memorial for him on June 10th. I felt compelled to write a farewell letter to him, and they are being kind enough to read it at the memorial. I thought I would share it with all of you (whether you knew him or not).
A couple things first... Dr. Werpy was a different sort of guy. If you called his house, his answering machine had a clip from Star Wars - Yoda, to be exact. He loved Star Wars so much that Eric and a few others took the tall, dome-topped garbage can from the band room and painted it like R2-D2...and the Werpster loved it. Dr. Werpy never took our word for it that the Weird Al song called "The White Stuff" was about Oreo cookies...he thought it was a disgusting song, and we got such a kick out of it! Lastly, Dr. Werpy had music living in his blood. Everything to him was music. I sincerely mean it when I say he awakened something more about music in me that last year of my high school career. In my letter, I say something about my xylophone solo - and I mean every word of it.
Here's the letter (sorry this is such a long post). Dr. Werpy was a wonderful teacher, and his passion for music was wonderfully contagious to those who chose to get close enough to catch some of it. I am quite certain this man is leading some sort of heavenly group of musicians.
Love and peace - Denise
"Dear Mr. Werpy,
Oops – you’re Dr. Werpy now, aren’t you? When you taught me my senior year in Sidney (1992-1993), you were only working on your Doctorate then. In fact, I remember your license place said “PHD2BE” and I always knew you would make it. I never had a chance to tell you how your passion for music touched my life…so let me try to now.
When you conducted our band, I’ve never seen anyone so entranced by what he was hearing. You would get on your podium, we would play our song, and you would hold your arms up at the end – even after cutting us off – and just stand there in the moment. Then you would begin to back away from the music stand, and would almost fall off the podium. We thought it was funny at the time, but we all recognized that you were lost in the music.
Had it not been for your encouragement and love for music, I would never have made the Honors Concert at Festival in Glendive that year. That was the hardest xylophone piece I have ever played, and the most fun I’ve had playing one. I thought you were crazy to ask me to use four mallets! Thank goodness Baker always let us use their very nice equipment since ours wasn’t up to par for wonderful solos such as that.
You were not a nickname kind of guy. We had nicknames for quite a few teachers – but not disrespectful or bad ones (well…mostly). I remember asking you if we could call you “The Big W” or “The Werpster”, and you paused and said, “Uh…no.” You didn’t even crack a smile, and I was certain that I offended you. I hope you know that to this day, a few of us still refer to you as The Werpster…we always have, and we probably always will. It has always been a matter of endearment to us.
Thank you, Dr. Werpy. Thank you for bringing another level of LOVE for music to my life. I was sorry to only have you my last year in high school, but you made such an impact. I can still pick out pieces of that xylophone solo, and that was a LONG time ago.
I am so sorry to hear of your passing, but I hope you know that you made a difference in the lives of musicians everywhere you went. I will never forget that wonderful senior year under your tutelage, and only hope that your final resting place is playing your favorite music.
Until we meet again,
Denise Johnson Nohner"
8 years ago
