William Tetley (Veteran)

William Anthony (Bill) Tetley, age 92, of Columbia, died Wednesday, June 1, 2010, at The Missouri Veterans Home in Mexico. He was born October 11, 1917, in Fredericktown, to Reverend William Adrian Tetley and Anna Maude Murphy. He had two older sisters: Olga Tetley and Martha Allred; and one brother: Benton; who all preceded him in death. He was married to Lorene Alyss (Reesy) Fuchs at the 7th Street Methodist Church in Kansas City, on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1939, by his father the Reverend William A. Tetley. Reesy preceded him in death February 10, 2010. He graduated from Beaumont High School in St. Louis, where he won the National French Horn Solo Contest judged by Dr. Edwin Franko Goldman. He was a graduate of Central College in 1938, earning a BS in Music. He returned in 1939 to receive his A.B. degree. At Central he was a member of the Beta Mu chapter of Phi MU Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity. He began his career as Band Director at Hale, and Norborne, then was called to serve in the Navy in World War II as a gunnery officer on the LST 836 that was part of the Battle Ship Missouri group and witnessed the Japanese surrender. After the war he was Band Director at Butler and Rolla. While in Rolla he was the director of the first Missouri All State High School band at Jesse Auditorium on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia in 1956, directed the School of Mines bands and was a member of the Rolla Rotary Club. He was Assistant Director of Teacher Certification for the Missouri Department of Education in Jefferson City, a recruiter for Central Methodist College where he was part of the team that started its nursing program, and finally a sales representative for Bohart Music Company in Kansas City. Throughout his career he was the sound judge adjudicator for marching band festivals all over the state of Missouri as well as the sight reading judge for many years at the annual High School Music Contest in Warrensburg. He was in constant demand as a clinician and judge for Missouri Band activities. He was a founding member of the Missouri Bandmasters Association and a longtime member of Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA). He sang in two Central Missouri Barbershop Quartets, The Hummingbirds and the Two City Four. He directed the Columbia barbershop chorus for many years. He was a member of Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), and Director of the Kapital Kicks Jazz Band in Jefferson City. He was the choir director for a church choir in every town where he lived. Bill is survived by his three sons: Fredrick William (Fred) Tetley and wife Linda, full time RVers, William Anthony (Tony) Tetley Jr. and wife Kathy of Columbia, and Benton Murphy (Murph) Tetley and wife Linda of Fulton; grandchildren include: Scott Tetley of Mandan, North Dakota, Chad Tetley of Olathe, Kansas, Lynn Tetley of Lebanon, Ohio, Jennifer Putnam of St. Genevieve and Alan Tetley of London, England. A celebration of life and music will be held in Bill's honor at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, June 12, at the Epple Chapel, Lenoir Woods, 3710 Lenoir Street Columbia, Mo. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Central Methodist University, 411 Central Methodist Square, Fayette, MO 65248 in memory of William Anthony Tetley, directed to the Classic Renaissance Campaign.