Richard Shanley

Richard Adrian Shanley, DMA, passed away March 16, 2023. Graveside services will be at 11:00 am on Saturday, Aptil 1, 2023 at Oakwood Cemetery. He was born in Los Angeles, CA on October 2, 1939 to parents, John Joseph (Jack) and Helen Carlson Shanley. With the family’s ties in Washington, they soon moved back to Bremerton to establish their home.

Richard graduated from West High School in Bremerton and Olympic Junior College in 1957. During those years he played on the tennis team and began to develop the passion of his life, playing the clarinet. One of his favorite memories was taking the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle early Saturday mornings so that he could have lessons with Ronald Phillips, principal clarinet with the Seattle Symphony.

During his junior college days he also played saxophone in a dance band and also developed a long lasting relationship with Dr. Wendal S. Jones, bassoonist and musical mentor. With the desire to develop more instrumental music skills he continued his college program at Greeley, CO (UNCO), where he studied with a well-known oboist, William Gower. He also traveled in the summer with Wendal and Virginia Jones to Iowa, where he studied with the famous woodwind methods composer and editor, Himie Voxman.

These experiences were cementing a life-long obsession with learning and developing new skills. During his stay in Greeley he played in a dance band that traveled all over the upper Midwest for weekend gigs. There were many stories about those weekends—weather, people and cars.

After the university’s scholarship funds ran out, Richard and several of his WA buddies transferred to New Mexico State University, under the guidance of Dr. Ray Tross, Band Director. In Las Cruces, NM his life took a new turn, meeting a high school flutist who became the love of his life, Helen Ann Farney.

He was an active member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, member of the Aggie band program and saxophonist with the Collegians, the school’s jazz/dance band. He graduated in 1962 with a BME degree, joined the El Paso, Texas public school district as a band director and married Helen Ann in 1963.

While in El Paso Richard and William C. Robinson collaborated on a team-teaching project for woodwinds and brass. Their programs in the Coronado area became well known in the area. He and Helen Ann also performed with the El Paso Symphony. After four years of teaching he decided that an advanced degree program would be the next step in development, so he enrolled in North Texas State University, studying with clarinetist, Dr. Oscar Lee Gibson. He earned an MM and DMA in clarinet performance with additional study in music history.

During the several years in the Denton area, Richard also played with the Fort Worth Symphony. Upon completion of the degrees in 1969 he was offered the woodwind position at Baylor University, with Dean Daniel Sternberg. He and Helen Ann moved to Waco, Texas, which would be their home for the next 54 years.

They became partners in life and music. He and his colleagues at the Baylor School of Music (including Helen Ann as the flutist and Doris DeLoach, oboist) developed an exceptional wind program with emphasis on chamber music and musical excellence. One of his greatest joys in teaching was the addition of international students to the clarinet studio. They came from China, Central and South America. He loved their courage, talents and hardworking attitudes. The students added to the spirit of his studio—it became an extended family.

His skills and dedication to the School of Music earned him the award of Outstanding Tenured Teacher for Baylor in 1992-93. Richard also played principal clarinet with the Waco Symphony, where he and his El Paso colleague, Bill Robinson (who had joined him at Baylor) established a chamber music program with the WSO to enhance the musical experiences of performers and audience members alike.

His tireless work in teaching, recruiting and practicing made for many long days. By developing the program, he was able to bring in a full complement of woodwind teachers, so that there was a faculty woodwind quintet in residence. Larry Vanlandingham, percussionist, joined them for many performances throughout Texas and the United States. An exceptional experience for the quintet was the opportunity to work with the famous French flutist, Marcel Moyse, who coached chamber music.

After teaching for 42 years at Baylor, he and Helen Ann retired in 2011, whereupon they began the traveling circuit, Europe, South America, China and the U.S. Baylor University also named him as an esteemed Professor Emeritus of Clarinet. Richard loved cooking, gardening, studying and planning (trips, projects, educational programs—always with “A, B, C” choices).

Richard is survived by his wife of 59+ years, Helen Ann Shanley, his daughters, Alison Lugo and husband, Joaquin; Melissa Holland and husband, Bret and four grandsons, Joaquin and Gabriel Lugo and Evan and James Holland; his sister Pamela Carelli and her husband, Charles, and their daughters, Marlice Whitener and Michelle Anderson and families.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Richard A. and Helen Ann Shanley Endowment Fund at Baylor’s School of Music; the Waco Symphony’s Richard and Helen Ann Shanley Fund; or to a charity of your choice.