Darrell Keith McCarty

Darrell Keith McCarty, known as Keith to his friends, passed away early Monday morning, October 13, 2014. He was born on October 7, 1927, the third of four children of Burdette and Lera McCarty of Salem, Illinois. Demonstrating a remarkable talent for music at a very early age, he was fast-tracked for advancement at every level of his schooling. He consistently was awarded Division 1 Solo awards from the age of 10. As a fifth-grader, he sat first chair clarinet in the Salem High School Band. He received a scholarship to the Interlochen Music Camp as a junior. The following year the nearby small town of Kinmundy lost their high school band director, so while still only a senior in high school, Keith spent the fall of 1945 directing his peers across a football field in support of the Kinmundy Hornets. He enrolled at the University of Illinois as a music major, and after a short detour serving in the United States Army (where he was a standout in the military band), he went on to get a Bachelors’ and a Masters’ degree in music, sitting first chair clarinet in both the band and orchestra. He was also active in chamber and contemporary music, and performed with George Enescu and Soulima Stravinsky, son of Igor, and members of the Walden String Quartet as an undergraduate. In 1950, as a graduate student/instructor, Keith met Mary Helen Snow, a young piano major from Harlingen, Texas. He was offered a scholarship to Tanglewood, a prestigious music academy in the Berkshires the following year, but declined as he had previous plans to marry Miss Snow. The young couple stayed in Champagne, Illinois and started a family while Keith continued teaching. In the fall of 1953, Keith accepted a position with the music department at Texas Technological College, which had just opened its state of the art music building. At the time the music department faculty had nine full time staff members and three part timers. Keith was originally hired as the entire woodwind faculty, teaching clarinet, bassoon, oboe, flute, and saxophone, as well as serving as assistant director of ‘That Goin’ Band From Raiderland.’ As the school enrollment grew, Keith was able to return to his primary instrument, clarinet, and served as the department’s clarinet teacher for thirty five years until his retirement in May, 1988. He was the first music teacher in the state of Texas to carry a full load exclusively of clarinet students, and took great pride in passing on the fundamentals of instrumentation, orchestration, and most importantly, transposing to his students; taking extra time and care in seeing they developed practical usage of these skills. He had a deep interest in chamber music, as well as contemporary music, and played with the university’s Woodwind Quintet for a number of years. He performed as a soloist, and with both the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra and the Texas Tech Symphony Orchestra. Many of his former students have gone on to become music teachers in their own rights. Among them Carol Jessup (University of Texas at Arlington), Evelyn McCarty (no relation, Texas A&M at Corpus Christi), Gary Garner (West Texas A&M), Charles Trayler (Abilene Christian College), Fred Ormand (University of Michigan), and Rob Lovett (Shallowater High School). He married Virginia Kellogg in 1982 and settled comfortably and happily into retirement in 1988. He is predeceased by his first wife, Mary Helen Snow McCarty, and two children, Kim Edward and Lauren Marie McCarty. Survivors include Virginia Kellogg McCarty, and two sons, Conan and Kevin McCarty. Rest in Peace. There will be a small family graveside service.

Darrell Keith McCarty

October 7, 1927 - October 13, 2014