Intermediate Strings, Jr. - Sr. Orchestra

Edwin Loraine Keller, 85, went to his heavenly home on Friday, June 25, 2010. He was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, on July 2, 1924 to the late Milo Franklin Keller and Ethel Griggs Wade Keller. Ed leaves behind a loving family. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Bernice Hirzel Keller; son, Larry Wade Keller; and daughter, Lorrie Sue Keller; of Oklahoma City; and daughter, Jana Keller Burton, son-in-law, William Scot Burton, and grandchildren, Ally Michelle Burton and Andrew James Burton, of Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was born and raised in Guthrie, Oklahoma. After graduating from Guthrie High School, he attended college at Oklahoma A and M (OSU), where he studied music and was in ROTC. As WWII progressed, he was called into the Special Services and was in training to be a wartime engineer. However, with the advancement of the war and pending invasion of Normandy, the training program was discontinued, and he was sent to the European Theatre. Prior to being sent, he married the love of his life, Bernice Hirzel of Guthrie. He landed at Normandy a month after D-Day as a member of the 1st Army, 119th Infantry, 30th division. After three months of intense fighting in Northern France and the Rhineland of Central Europe, he was captured in Aachen, Germany, sent to a POW prison camp in Pomerania and was forced into The Death March across Germany in blizzard conditions for 3 months before being liberated on April 30, 1945. Following V-Day he returned to Oklahoma, where he and Bernice attended Oklahoma City University as music students. He received a Bachelor of Music from OCU, where he studied violin with Herbert Bagwell. He subsequently received a Master of Music from The University of Oklahoma, where he studied violin with Robert Gerle. In 1954 Ed began teaching orchestra and building the music education program in the Oklahoma City Public Schools. In 1963 he became the Music Supervisor and eventually Fine Arts Coordinator until he retired in 1985. After his 31 years with the Public Schools, Ed joined the faculty at Cassady Day School in Oklahoma City, where he started an orchestra and band program. Thirteen years later he retired from Cassady with the program firmly established. His fine teaching is reflected by his many students who have become teachers, performers, artists and patrons of the Fine Arts, including his own children. In addition to his teaching and administrative work, Ed was Minister of Music for 40 years at Eighth Street Methodist, Pilgrim Congregational, Northwest Christian, and Central Presbyterian Churches in Oklahoma City. He was a professional violinist and violist who performed with the Oklahoma City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, and the Lawton Philharmonic, where he served as Concertmaster for 10 years. He toured across Oklahoma and The United States as a member of Herbert Bagwell's performing ensemble known as The Gypsies. Ed was also a violinist in the POW band at his Prisoner of War camp, Stalag 2B, in Stargard, Pomerania (Poland), where he performed for both his fellow POW's and his Nazi captors. Ed served for 28 years on the Board of Directors for Theatre Upon a StarDanceSwan, where he was involved in many facets of the company's performance and arts in education projects. He was a loving husband and father, as well as a kind gentleman. Ed enjoyed do-it-yourself home improvement projects, yard work, modern technology, watching OU football, good humor, and spending quality time with friends and family. A viewing is at Smith & Kernke Funeral Home, 14624 N. May Ave. in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, June 29, 2010, from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The Memorial Service and Celebration of Life is at Oklahoma City University, Bishop Angie Smith Chapel, on Thursday, July 1, 2010, at 2:00 PM, following a private burial at Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Memorial donations may be made to Dementia Research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 N.E. 13th, Oklahoma City, OK 73104 (405-271-7400) and/or the nonprofit organization, StarDanceSwan, at 3022 Paseo, Oklahoma City, OK 73103.

Published in The Oklahoman on June 29, 2010