David John Yeomans

FORT WORTH - David John Yeomans, 85, was called to his Creator January 24, 2024 with his wife Sheila by his side. His life became a trinity of Music, Love, and Faith, serving his art and his family, church, students, and community. To the end he was playing his piano, planning repertoire for performance, working on publications, and cherishing each day. He wanted more time, but his body grew too tired. His droll humor and strong, gentle spirit is missed by so many.
Born in a NYC hospital, David grew up in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, and attended a one-room schoolhouse only 30 miles from New York City. His life-long career as a pianist began when at age 5 his pediatrician recommended piano lessons to help him with social anxiety and allergies. He went on to graduate from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, earn his Masters from the Juilliard School of Music, and his DMA from the University of Michigan. In 1972 he took a position at SUNY Fredonia, where two years later he began to accompany a colleague, soprano Sheila Allen, in competitions and concerts. They married in 1975, and began a 48-year partnership of love and music, performing at Carnegie Hall and numerous venues in Europe, Korea, and across the United States. Their teaching careers took them from Fredonia to Washington State University, and finally to Texas, where he taught at UT Austin and at TCU, and was head of piano at Texas Woman's University for 14 years. In 2011 he co-founded the Clear Creek Music Festival in Halfway, Oregon, which for ten years provided a place where collegiate musicians received intense but nurturing musical development surrounded by nature. David was a consummate soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist.
In addition to his lifelong dedication to performance and teaching, he was also a prolific writer, in music scholarship as well as personal and spiritual reflection. His publications include Bartók for Piano and Music of the Czech Romantics by Indiana University Press, along with numerous articles. He recorded an album of Czech piano music to accompany his book.
In David's own words:
"My primary purpose has been, is now, and always will be, to cultivate my God-given gift of music making, and to use it to enrich the lives of others."
"I have often wondered, as all of us have, how I will be remembered? What will be my legacy?...I have written two books, both still in print, and I'm working on a third. I have performed at many places around the world, I have taught hundreds of students in private lessons and in the classroom, I have composed arrangements of regional folk tunes that had never been notated, and I gave a full piano recital the day after my 85th birthday in 2023.
But does any of this matter? St. Paul doesn't think so: he considers his own material accomplishments as 'rubbish', compared to his having found Christ and spreading the Good News [Philippians 3:8].
... Last spring my daughter Sheryl moved into the very house where I was raised, and there they were, my granddaughters Edith and Anne walking hand in hand toward the entrance to the same school building where I graduated from grade school 72 years ago. Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned a scenario such as this. This is my real legacy, and one that I will always cherish."
David was active in his church, Trinity Episcopal in Fort Worth, singing in the Choir, writing program notes for seven All Soul's Day Requiem performances, serving as a Stephen Minister and on a Rector Search Committee, participating in Education for Ministry and a weekly Men's Bible Study. He took strength from his 32 years of sobriety; he co-founded the Bellaire chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, and, as a sponsor, he helped countless others on their journeys to health and wholeness.
He is survived by his beloved wife Sheila, cherished daughter Sheryl Jordan and her husband, Peter Jordan, his treasured granddaughters Edith and Anne, extended family and his precious students who carry on his musical legacy.
His life will be celebrated with a Memorial Service at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Worth on February 17, 2024 at 2 pm Central Time. The service will be live streamed on Youtube: https:// www.youtube.com/@TrinityEpiscopalFortWorth and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ fortworthtrinity.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Trinity Foundation Of Fort Worth, Inc. TCU Scholars Program EID # 27-4026174 | PO Box 100085, Fort Worth, TX 76185