Drusilla A. Sunderman

Drusilla A. Sunderman (Welt), age 83, passed away March 29, 2022, with her loving family by her side. Dru was born in Portland, Maine, and was the daughter of Milton and Barbara Welt (Mills) of Harwich. Dru was a graduate of Harwich High School and of Lowell State Teachers College, where she earned a BA in music education.
Music was the heart and soul of her life. The Welt family spent many happy times singing around the piano and at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Harwich Port. The three Welt sisters, Dru, Betty, and Sue, sang in church and at many organizations around the Cape. Later, Sue and Dru produced a cabaret show, Sisters Too, and sang for local clubs and restaurants.
Dru spent her working years as a music teacher, first in Cambridge, Mass., and then in the Barnstable public school system, from elementary to high school. She taught general music and loved to have her choruses perform. Her talent in singing and piano playing, and her wonderfully warm and charismatic personality, helped many young students discover the joy of music and to realize that they had a talent and a place in the world! Many of them will still remember Dru's puppet, Grendel.
After retiring from Barnstable Public Schools, Dru spent twenty happy years as a vocal teacher at the Cape Cod Conservatory in Barnstable. She was a superb vocal coach and mentor, and taught her students in the Broadway style. She formed a close bond with many of her students, several of whom went on to careers in teaching music, performing, and even working on Broadway. She was so proud of them, and they kept in touch with her through the years. She also served as vocal coach for musicals at Sandwich High School and the Barnstable Comedy Club.
One of the highlights of Dru's musical life was writing the music, lyrics, and narration for, which she produced in her eighties. It was performed in August 2019 at the Federated Church and then privately at the church with an orchestra.
Dru is predeceased by her parents; her sister Elizabeth Wetherbee; and her husband, Herbert Sunderman. She leaves her daughter, Susan Lumenello, and her wife, Kelly Bennett, of Centerville; her son, Scott Lumenello, of Worcester; and her granddaughters, Stephany Lumenello of Uxbridge and Sarah Lumenello of Worcester. She leaves her sister Sue Lindholm and her husband, Carl, of Harwich; nephews Jeff, Brett, and Mark Lindholm, as well as nephews Guy and Dean Wetherbee and niece Amy Roemer and their families. In addition, she leaves her stepdaughter Carol Gordon and her husband, Andrew; grandchildren Chase Treisman and Morley Gordon; great-grandchildren Solomon and Sloane Treisman; stepdaughter Ahmayo Bohm and her children, Tyler, Jen, Duncan, and Ian, and their families; and Brian Pereira and Nathan Peck and their families.
The family thanks the enormously skilled and compassionate VNA Hospice nurses Diane, Audrey, and Kelly, and caregivers Carol, Paula, Jennifer, Karen, and Debra, who provided aid, kindness, and much comfort.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, 396 Main St., Ste. 10, Hyannis, MA 02601, info@artsfoundation.org.
A celebration of Dru's life will be held at Pilgrim Congregational Church on Sunday, April 24, at 1 p.m., 533 Route 28, Harwich Port, MA.