Jim Stingl
Deaths of beloved music educators hit columnist close to home.
In the summer of 1979 I took a banjo class at UWM, figuring it would lead to a lifetime of irritating loved ones with noisy songs that all sounded like “The Beverly Hillbillies” theme.
The teacher was Will Schmid. I had enjoyed his guitar class the semester before. It was impressive that he wrote the instruction books we used. This guy knew what he was doing, even with a bunch of beginners.
During that summer, Will decided it would benefit his banjo students to play alongside another instrument, so he walked us down the hallway of the music building to join a guitar class.
I sat down next to a pretty woman who said her name was Denice. Two years later I married her. And Will Schmid, our inadvertent matchmaker, played and sang at the wedding in 1981, along with his wife, Ann, on autoharp.
Denice and I saw Will and Ann over the years that followed, though not often enough. We went to a house concert at their place on Milwaukee’s east side. We attended a Stringalong Weekend, a sort of musical retreat organized for 30 years by Ann, who founded the UWM Folk Center.
Will later became my Facebook friend. It was there he revealed on May 19 that his wife died after four years with multiple myeloma. “The hole in my life will be huge,” he wrote, which I knew to be true after
losing Denice to cancer in 2016.
A few weeks later, Will shared on Facebook that he had acute myeloid leukemia and had entered Froedtert Hospital for a month of chemotherapy. The prognosis was scary, but Will wrote a song that very day for the occasion, “The Leukemi Blues,” and posted the lyrics — and chords, naturally — along with the announcement.
His illness was first diagnosed right about the time Ann entered hospice care at home. Now these two who had harmonized so beautifully through 50 years of marriage were both fighting cancer. Their sons, Thacher and Schuyler, who both live in Portland, Ore., made numerous trips home to help out.
Last Sunday, Will joined his wife in death after being without her for 44 days. In the process of letting go
of this precious life, he had begun to give away guitars and other instruments to friends.
His death notice in the newspaper captures him this way: “Will was a husband, father, grandfather and friend known for indefatigable hope, positivity and patience; an internationally-renowned author of over 100 books for Hal Leonard Publishing and others; longtime University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee music professor and chair; president of Music Educators National Conference; founder of World Music Drumming Workshops. Along with Ann, he brought music and love to the world, got people singing, playing and drumming, and loved Milwaukee.”
I still have the books and single
sheets of music that Will handed out in class. His Hal Leonard Guitar Method has sold millions of copies since it came out in 1977. It’s been translated into a dozen languages and has passed the Mel Bay method as the number one seller.
“His passion to bring the joy of making music to everyone continued right up until the very end,” said Jeff Schroedl, Hal Leonard’s executive vice president.
Will, who earned a PhD from the Eastman School of Music, retired from UWM 17 years ago at age 60, but he and Ann stayed busy the past two decades spreading their World Music Drumming mix of percussion, singing and movement to 20,000 schools worldwide. It will live on after them.
On a smaller scale, Will and Ann shared music and singing with friends at their home every couple weeks in a group they named the Occasional Crooners.
Longtime friend Kathy Rivera is one of those people who didn’t think she could carry a tune until joining the group.
“Ann and Will liked to get everyone singing,” she said. “I’m not great at it, but that was always OK with them.”
I still play and sing some of the guitar songs Will taught me, like “Down By The Riverside,” “Ripple,” “Freight Train,” “Ramblin’ Boy” and a bunch of Beatles stuff. Alas, my banjo gathers dust.
I thought of Will as Milwaukee’s Pete Seeger because of his skill at getting everyone to join in. Will came to know the famous activist folk singer by working with him on music projects over the years, and Seeger visited Will and Ann at their home when he was in town.
Son Schuyler said his parents were educators first and musicians second. In childhood and college, Will played the trumpet but switched to mainly guitar for many years before finding a love of drumming.
“I know they fully supported people just trying and making mistakes. That was a joy for them because it means you were finding the love,” he said.
The couple knew heartbreak in their lives, too. Their son Kyle died by suicide in 2008. But they drew much happiness from their two grandchildren, Maisie, 6, and Raymond, 3.
A memorial service for Ann was held, and one for Will is planned for Aug. 18. Details will be posted on CaringBridge.org.
Rest in peace, my teacher Will and sweet Ann. Thanks for the music and leading me to love.
Contact Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or jstingl@jrn.com. Connect with my public page at Facebook.com/ Journalist.Jim.Stingl