A Life-time of Dedication to Art: Finding Hope in Sharing Music with the World

“Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy” 
― Ludwig van Beethoven


"Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us."

-Martin Luther

Judi Strayer at her Tucson home.

Throughout my life I have had a number of role models for living a service oriented life.   I was told in many ways from my earliest years that serving others was one of the very most important acts I could undertake.  I witnessed my parents and grandparents acting for the good of others in their communities and then later found caring teachers and mentors who also modeled self-less service as a worldview as well as a way of life.

As a teen and then later as an adult I propelled myself into the world of active volunteering in numerous ways. Through the years I have served in nursing homes, sheltered workshops, for animal welfare and rescue organizations, with philanthropy organizations, as a midwife and as a parent of three children I did what a parents often do and became the team-mom, the girl scout leader, the soccer coach.  Now I give my time in the areas that feel so very nourishing that I might pay to participate.  It’s that easy!  Working with special need children and veterans as a horse-handler at TROT (Therapeutic Riding of Tucson) or monitoring transects for predator tracks with Sky Island Alliance fit my interests and abilities so well that it is pure pleasure to do so.

I once had a teacher in my yoga teacher- training program who said “there is no truly altruistic or selfless act”.  I argued vehemently about that initially but over time I realized that this is probably true.   If I am “serving” whether through paid work or through volunteering, ostensibly to care for others, what do I get from this?  A lot.  And when I speak with those I interview for this blog everyone agrees.  Serving then benefits us all in countless ways hard to quantify or even to qualify.    

I have found that while some, participate by “serving on the side”, others have made it their path, whole and complete.  There are those who live to serve and find serving to be the greatest meaning of their lives.

Judi Strayer of Tucson is one such person. I first met her over eleven years ago when my daughter Isabella picked up the violin as her first instrument and Judi became her teacher.  Through the years our relationship with Judi has grown and she has come to feel like an important part of our family constellation. I have always been taken with her consistently calm, peaceful  and accepting manner and through many conversations over the years have come to know her as a friend as well as my daughter’s esteemed mentor and teacher.

Judi, a second generation American, was raised in the Hood River area of Oregon in a small community of European immigrants who homesteaded there.  Her Finnish and Swiss-German grandparents had a large part in developing the Columbia River area as well as Portland, OR.  Her family's name can be seen imprinted on many Portland sidewalks left over from the time they were actively helping to build that city. Part of a tightly knit Presbyterian church community Judi grew up spending Sundays at church.  She babysat in the church nursery during services and hung out in the youth group. Her mother was a talented singer and pianist and it was through her that Judi learned to love music and performing.  Her mother was so gifted that she was given the opportunity of studying and singing abroad while Judi and her siblings were small.  She refused the opportunity not wanting to leave her young children.  Judi remembers that while growing up she thought that a house was not a real home unless it had a piano and was filled with music.  She has hours of stories to tell about her highly interesting Finnish/Swiss family and I could write pages. Suffice it to say that her family has clearly had a long and colorful history of both music and of service to their communities. “We’re pushy people, if you see something you want done, you go ahead and do it,  you do what you can”.  And being raised in this manner clearly yielded good results.

Her mother, Viola, and her aunt Margerite, along with another community member formed a musical trio called “Ladies of Note” who performed popular and classical music thorough out the Hood River area. Her aunt Dorothy was Judi’s first violin teacher.  Judi learned to read music before reading books and because her eyesight was poor when she was small she was only allowed to read once a week at the library. She started at the A's  in the children’s section and then would read as many books as possible before going home.

Saguaro Highschool String Orchestra

After attending The University of Portland and getting her Music Education degree she moved to Tucson in 1961 where she met and married her husband Doug at what she jokingly referred to as First Lien and Theft (First Loan and Thrift) a local Savings and Loan that preyed on the impoverished just as payday loan shops to today. She was admitted to the University of Arizona for graduate school with a valuable out-of-state tuition waiver in exchange for playing for the school orchestra. However, she was already professionally employed by the Tucson Symphony, and she was told by the UA to quite the TS because of ongoing rivalry. Judi refused and instead, applied to TUSD (Tucson Unified School District) for a teaching job. She found that the administrators were incredulous that she was applying for a secondary music teaching position. They did not believe that a woman was capable of directing a high school orchestra. She realized that she was living in the dark ages but instead of crumpling said “those were fighting words”! And this indomitable spirit truly marks everything Judi does.

In 1962 right after their marriage, Doug was drafted and they moved to Arlington, VA where he worked as an army stenographer in White House communications. Judi remembers the intensity of being in DC during the height of the cold war and when Kennedy was shot. She and Doug have been married 53 years in June.  After living in several locations Judi and her family returned to Tucson in 1974 and she was hired on full time to teach music and English in TUSD schools. Although Judi had a bumpy beginning with TUSD she went on to have a long and fruitful career leading thousands of children and teenagers to the bottomless well of music and all it brings. Judi has led orchestras in a number of different schools as well as continually teaching private students. She has working knowledge of every orchestral instrument, and has mastered all of the string instruments, but her favorite remains the violin.  She has taught many lessons to her students with music serving as a vehicle to teach the values of perseverance, of hard work, and believing in something greater than yourself.  “You can’t fail if you try – the only failure is doing nothing – not  trying.”  Judi has said this to her students for decades. A highlight of her musical education career was taking a full orchestra of Tucson students to Taiwan in 1984 for a musical exchange. In addition to teaching Judi has had a full career professionally performing with many local orchestras and groups including the Tucson Pops Orchestra,  The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Civic Orchestra, Arizona Opera, and many more.  

Opening Minds through Art (OMA) in Tucson

After retiring in 1997 Judi has turned her attention to other things. I’ve noticed that whatever she does, she does 500%.  She has worked as a volunteer at the University Medical Center during a number of jobs that aren't very appealing but are very necessary. These include every possible sort of paperwork organization, cataloging, filing, organizing the bio-hazard reports and more. Often working on tasks that no one else will touch Judi acknowledges that cuddling babies, and working with direct patient care could be more interesting but she is dedicated to performing work that others eschew and gets satisfaction from completing these tasks. She also enjoys her occasional stints at the reception desk directing visitors to the places and resources they are seeking.

In addition to her hospital work, during the past two years she has worked on the Arizona State Foster Care Board Review.  This is a volunteer position that requires stamina and a strong stomach. Judi and her compatriots on the board review the heart-breaking cases of children who have often fallen through the cracks and are at risk of perishing from neglect and apathy. They spend many hundreds of hours every year reading through the dense cases of individual children and then a full day every month  discussing them and making recommendations to the court.  Many know that our child welfare system is broken. Many fewer are doing anything at all to change it.  Judi and the other volunteers on 26 boards in the region are working doggedly to make sure that children do not languish in abusive and neglectful situations. There is a huge need for more volunteers in this area. And of course there is.  When I hear of the types of things she hears on a regular basis is it no wonder that most people might say “I care, but I could not listen to that level of tragedy.”  It’s a real downer.  But Judi Strayer continues to do her bit. I am in awe of her fortitude as well as her stamina. More so, her beautiful loving spirit and recognition that she still has so much to offer the world.

Back to the question of who volunteering really helps? According to Judi “ Most people who volunteer get as much out of it as they give. You get such positive feed back. They smile, they say thank you. At the hospital when I work the front desk you see all kinds of people, they struggle with language, some of them you have to take by the arm and lead them as they don’t know where to go in such a big place. But, they’re all very grateful, I find there are very few people who aren’t gracious.”  

When I asked about how tiring the foster care board must be she replied:  “We are not in touch with our deepest motivations. Sometimes I’d surely like to stay home and put my feet up and do nothing, but I find that if I do that then I feel worse for staying home and thinking about how I don’t feel good.  I don’t need the money, or need to be paid. I’m coming because I like to help and I know I can”

I believe that Judi is one of those people who will never stop caring about others, and most importantly, will continue to serve in whatever way she can. Question:  What is our duty to our fellow man?  The other beings that inhabit our planet?  The earth itself?  Is there something, anything, we can do, no matter how small it may seem?  I love this quote from Dr. Seuss: "To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world."

Namaste,

Felicia

Helpful Links From This Blog:

University Medical Center (UMC)

http://uahealth.com/ways-to-give/volunteer-programs

Superior Court Foster-Care Review Board Tucson, AZ  (FCRB)

www.azcourts.gov/FCRB/

Opening Minds Through Arts (OMA)  A program of TUSD to integrate music and art instruction with existing curriculum.
http://www.tusd1.org/contents/depart/oma/index.asp

TUSD Literacy Volunteer Program. Encouraging literacy in high-needs schools.
http://literacyconnects.org/readingseed/reading-seed-schools/tusd-schools-with-reading-seed/