Robert Cole "Bob" Cummings

1926 - 2014

New London - Robert Cole "Bob" Cummings, 88, formerly of Keene, N.H., died peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 4, 2014, in New London, after a period of failing health.

Born in Portland, Maine, on Feb. 11, 1926, Bob was a son of Harold and Ethel (Cole) Cummings. He grew up and attended schools in Portland, Maine, where at an early age, he acquired a love of music and went on to become an accomplished classical and jazz musician playing trumpet with such musical celebrities as Patti Page, Frankie Lane, Randy Brooks, and Les Brown and His Band of Renown. While in grammar school, Bob made national news when he hit a "triple high C" on his trumpet and, later, while still only a high school student, began performing as a featured soloist with the Portland Symphony Orchestra and appeared on the Major Bowes/Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour. After graduating from Deering High School in 1946, Mr. Cummings entered the U.S. Air Force where he served as a navigator on heavy bombers.

In August 1949, he married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Ann McFarland, a flutist who would be at his side until her death in March 2011.

After the conclusion of World War II, Bob entered the Juilliard School of Music where he was a student of William Vacchiano, first chair of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra; and, in 1951, received an artist diploma in trumpet. While in New York City he performed in Broadway shows, jazz clubs, the New York City Opera, and with various notable entertainers of the day. With the advent of the Korean War, Mr. Cummings was called back to service and trained as a flying radio operator, a highly specialized role using the esoteric technology of the time and was then stationed variously at Stewart Air Force Base (Newburgh, N.Y.) and at the Pepperrell and Ernest Harmon Air Force Bases (Newfoundland, Canada), where he performed in several Air Force band ensembles. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, Bob enrolled in the New England Conservatory of Music where he earned a second artist diploma in trumpet while studying with Roger Voisin and with Armando Ghittala, the legendary principal trumpets of the Boston Symphony and of the Boston Pops. But rather than pursue a career as a professional orchestral musician or big band performer in New York or Boston, Bob decided instead to apply his considerable talents and world-class training as an educator of young people. It would become his life's work.

In 1956, Bob and Barbara Cummings moved to Keene, N.H., from Watertown, Mass., to raise their family and became active members of the community for some 55 years. A gifted and dedicated teacher, Bob taught instrumental music, choral music, and music theory and harmony classes in the Keene public schools for 33 years. To assure that his students would always receive his best efforts, Bob continued his formal education, earning a master's degree and pursuing doctoral studies in music education at Boston University. He also undertook additional advanced training at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, University of Texas at Austin, and at the Music Performance Institute of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Over the course of many years, he spent Sundays conducting the choir at the United Church of Christ in Keene, and also performed on weekends in area nightclubs as a member of the popular jazz ensemble, "The Four Professors", along with Dave Nims (piano), Gene Gober (upright bass), and Gary Desjardins (drums).

Under his direction, the Keene High School concert band, marching band, and jazz band performed before a wide variety of audiences and won numerous awards in juried competitions at state and regional music festivals. A modest, self-effacing man, Bob was nevertheless very proud of the successes of the Keene High School A Cappella Choir which was invited to perform at the 1964 World's Fair and later toured in Europe and Japan and that of the KHS Jazz Band which under his direction won numerous competitions throughout New England. Over the course of his lengthy career as a high school music educator, dozens of his students were named to All-State, All-New England, and All-Eastern festival bands and choirs. Bob was himself widely sought after as a jazz band competitions adjudicator in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. However, he was most proud of the fact that many of his students were inspired to become lifetime music aficionados, professional musicians, and/or teachers in their own right.

Following his retirement from Keene High School, Bob continued to teach privately and enjoyed traveling with his wife and best friend, Barbara.

Bob is survived by his son, Bruce D. Cummings and daughter-in-law, Ellen C. Cummings of New London; his daughter, Audrey D. Lewis and son-in-law, Robert H. Lewis of Eugene, Oregon; and his son, Stephen W. Cummings and daughter-in-law, Denise S. Cummings of Mansfield, Mass.; six grandchildren, Chansonetta Cummings and her husband, Lewis Parish, Hayden Cummings and his fiancé, Valerie Shively (Middletown, N.Y.), Braden, Brandt, and Bryce Lewis (Eugene, Oregon), and Cole Cummings (Mansfield, Mass.). He also leaves two great-granddaughters, Renata Parish and Eve Cummings.

He was predeceased by his wife, Barbara (McFarland) Cummings of Keene, and by his brother, Norman Cummings of Huntington, Vt.

A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, in the United Church of Christ in Keene, N.H. In keeping with his wishes, burial will be conducted privately at the Monadnock View Cemetery, West Keene. There are no visiting hours.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Barbara M. and Robert C. Cummings Fund for the Arts, c/o the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, 37 Pleasant St., Concord, NH 03301, to benefit the fine and performing arts in the Monadnock region.

Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court St., Keene, N.H., is in charge of arrangements.