AILEEN DININO

DININO, MRS. AILEEN, a longtime resident of North Miami, passed away on August 9, 2013, at the age of 98. Religion, music, and education were the foundations of her long life. She spent 20 years as a nun with the Franciscans of Perpetual Adoration in Wisconsin, and then moved to Miami where she became involved in the celebration of the Latin Mass at St. Robert Bellamine Catholic Church, and was a member of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. Her interest in music continued and she became a music assistant to Frank V. DiNino. She proved herself both professionally and personally, eventually becoming his wife. After a 37-year marriage, Mr. DiNino passed away in 1987. After her husband's death Mrs. DiNino's worked with Dr. George Bornoff, and it was his string method, along with her advanced degrees in music education, that led her to the classroom. She was a professor at Miami-Dade Community College where she taught both technique and theory, and also instituted a Saturday Orchestra program for underprivileged children. She worked as a teacher in many Miami-Dade County Public Schools, including North Miami Senior High School and Miami Beach Senior High, and helped design and implement the Music Education Program for the school system. Even after her official retirement she continued working with students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools as a volunteer, giving instruction to music students in programs at various schools, including the North Dade Center for Modern Languages. She also spent many years instructing the lower division students of the South Florida Youth Symphony. A number of current Miami-Dade County Public Schools teachers are former students and continue to use her teaching techniques with their pupils. The many students she influenced will recognize her favorite phrase, "The brain before the bow," a reference to the importance of critical thinking when playing a stringed instrument. In 1999 Carrie Meek recognized Mrs. DiNino in the Florida House of Representatives and had a tribute read into the Congressional Record. That year the Miami Herald also profiled her as a positive and dynamic influence on music education. She has been worshiping as well as making and teaching music for the better part of 70 years, and taught music in various organizations up until the age of 90. Visitation is scheduled for Sunday, August 18th, from 5:30-8 PM at Memorial Plan Southern Memorial Park, 15011 W. Dixie Highway and a Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, August 19th, at 10:00 AM at the Mission Church of Saints Francis and Clare, 402 NE 29th Street. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial donations to Catholic Hospice.