This morning I came across your article on Fred King on Barbershop.org. Before he moved to Overlea SHS, he taught the 9th grade choir at Pine Grove Jr High. I was privileged to be in his class in 1975-76, and reading your tale brought back many fond memories. I remember the wild antics, the crazy teeth.

I remember when he started wearing an old digital watch with an LED display. Since the LEDs drew a lot of power from the battery, it wasn’t on all the time like an LCD display. To turn it on you flicked your wrist, and his conducting style involved a lot of flicking of the wrist. We all thought it was funny, and when we finally told him what we were laughing about he joined in, exclaiming “That’s why the batteries keep going dead!”

Most of all I remember how deeply he cared about his students and music. He wasn’t just putting in another day to get a paycheck. He worked with individual students who needed a little more help. He formed a barbershop quartet of students. He gave everything he could, every day. He was suffering from kidney stones that year, and it was amazing that he showed up some days. But it was important to him that he gave.

I lost track of him after that year. I didn’t realize he was at TSU or I would have tracked him down (I was there 1979-1983). I’m sorry to hear of his passing, but I’m glad to know he was active in the music he loved right to the end. Thank you for writing about your experiences with him.