John A. Trainer Jr.

John A. Trainer, Jr., age 94, of Havertown, PA, died on October 29, 2024.
John was born on May 5, 1930, in Philadelphia, PA, the son of John A. Trainer, Sr. and Esther Miller. He had 2 sisters, Ruth and Betsy. He graduated from Merchantville High School in 1947 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1952 with a master's degree in music education. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. John was a trombonist in the US. Air Force band from 1952-1956 and received the National Defense Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Army Occupation Medal, Germany. During his time in Germany, he met his wife, Rosemarie, at a German-American friendship event, where John impressed her with his amazing ping-pong skills.
John grew up near the Jersey shore where he enjoyed surf fishing, boating, and body surfing. He loved hiking and mushrooming in the German Alps and NY Adirondack mountains with his family. He was skilled at tennis, ping-pong, and shooting pool.
John was the music director of Haverford High School from 1956 to 1991 and the founder of the jazz band. His students nicknamed him "Skitch", a nod to Skitch Henderson. He led his students in many performances including music festivals in which they often won awards. John was a spiritual man all his life and sang in choirs at the Llanerch Presbyterian Church and other places of workshop. He was organist at Temple Shalom, Trinity Lutheran, St. David's Episcopal, St. Faith Episcopal, and St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Schroon Lake, NY. He played the trombone for many years in a dance band called The Moonlighters. He gave private trombone lessons to many students in his home and shared with his children the love of music by giving them flute, trombone, violin, viola and piano lessons.
John was devoted to the Seagle Music Colony, a prestigious opera training program in Schroon Lake, NY. John served on the Board of Directors for decades and as President from 1995 – 2002. He taught himself how to tune pianos and kept the 20 pianos at Seagle tuned for more than 40 years. He was still faithfully tuning the pianos daily during the 2024 summer vocal music season. John was like a beloved family member to every artist and faculty member who came through the Seagle music program.
John was a remarkable person who shared his gift of music widely. He was a member of the Community Band, and an acapella barbershop quartet in Schroon Lake. He attended many instrumental and choral music concerts throughout his life, and especially loved to see his daughter, Ellen, play the viola with various ensembles. In the last weeks of his life, he played trombone duets in church with his son, Mark, and four hands piano duets with his family and friends. John was gentle, gracious, huge-hearted, passionate about life, and in tune with joy, with a kind smile that, at times, seemed to contain glimmers of mischief.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Rosemarie, and 3 children, Vera, Mark and Ellen and their spouses, Len Kannapell, Christy Trainer and Sherri Eyer, with 5 grandchildren (Veronica, Brandon [Maria, his wife], Tyler, Roberto and Stephanny, 4 great-grandchildren (Josh, Kayla, Logan, and Everett), and 1 great-great grandchild (Everly). He is also survived by his beloved husky, Kimba.
His memorial service will be held at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church at 1:00 pm on Thursday, November 14, preceded by a private family internment in the Memorial Garden. A reception will follow in the church congregational hall. If you wish, please bring a printed memory of John to place in the memory book to share with the family.
In lieu of flowers, please spread kindness and music. A memorial gift can be made in his honor to the Seagle Music Festival's John A. Trainer Memorial Fund. https://seaglefestival.org/donate/