Red Oak’s ‘Band Man’ remembered forever through monument dedication

RED OAK – A gifted musician. A dedicated teacher. A devoted father.

Richard Simpson will be remembered as a lot of different things, but most of all, he will always be remembered as Red Oak’s “Band Man.”

A monument at the Fountain Square Park bandstand was dedicated Friday in memory of Simpson, who was Red Oak high school’s band director from 1941-1980, even if he didn’t embrace that title.

“This was a band stand and he was a band man,” Simpson’s daughter, Rosie Perez, said. “He never described himself as a band director. He was a band man.”

Perez talked about how her father intertwined the fundamentals of a good band into life lessons.

“Watch a crummy band. Do they pay attention or know when he (the director) is up on the podium? Heck no,” Perez said. “We were taught to pay attention to our leaders.”

Sandy Guinn, one of Simpson’s former students who returned to teach at Red Oak, organized the effort to recognize the band director by first convincing the Park and Tree Board to name the stage in his honor four years ago.

“On this stage, Mr. Simpson directed hundreds of summer band concerts,” Guinn said. “He taught his students music, but he also taught them the value of hard work, of working together, striving for the best and appreciating the success that comes with it.

“He provided hours of musical enjoyment for the entire community on this stage and at this time we would like to dedicate it as the Richard Simpson Bandstand. May it forever be called that.”

Guinn recalled when during the summer, Simpson would direct high school bands from the stage as businesses stayed open late.

“We all have fond memories of those days,” she said. “Back then, many people who attended the concerts, and there were many, would sit in their cars to listen to us play and after we played a song, they would honk their horns letting us know they enjoyed it.”

Jolene Crawford was a classmate of Rosie’s, but “didn’t have a musical bone,” in her body, she stated.

However, she later became friends with the teacher and his wife through her alteration business.

“Those of you who are my age or older, if someone asked you where you were when JFK was shot you could say exactly where you were,” Crawford said. “I can tell you exactly where I was when I heard the news Mr. Simpson had passed away.”

Crawford said she was riding in a car when she heard his obituary on the radio.

“I was shocked and I was devastated,” she said. “I cried for miles. But I feel very blessed to have had a friendship with Mr. Simpson as an adult. He was always happy, had a twinkling in his eye and he was a wonderful person to know. God bless Mr. Simpson.”

Guinn lead a committee that easily raised enough funds for the monument; so much so, in fact, that there was an excess of $612.32 which was donated to Middle School Band Director John Hewitt.

Hewitt, who renamed the middle school band festival to the John Simpson Middle School Band Festival four years ago, talked about coming into the district with the legendary band man active in the community.

“He would come into the band  room still dressed in his suit and tie, looking better at 90 than I could ever hope to look at 50,” Hewitt said. “We were blessed to have him around for so many years.”

Perez shared several stories about the influence her dad had on individual students’ lives, while at the same time stressing the importance of representing their community in a positive light.

“I don’t think there ever was a situation where someone said ‘oh those Red Oak band kids’ and then something negative,” Perez said. “That just didn’t happen as we were taught to do what was right.”

After the speeches, Hewitt directed a community band formed for the occasion, which performed a John Phillip Sousa march and the Red Oak staple “Tiger Rag/Hold That Tiger.”

Notes from Tiger Rag are also inscribed on the monument, which reads “With love and respect, dedicated to the memory of Mr. Richard H. Simpson, Red Oak’s ‘Band Man’ from 1941-1980. From this site he directed hundreds of concerts, teaching his students to always strive for the best.”