Dave Wittick's present was buried in
his past
When Dave Wittick arrived as the new music teacher in
Kapuskasing, it was a
dream come true for him. He began a love affair with teaching and a
love
affair with a young local woman... both relationships have turned into
his
life's contributions.
As a young couple, Dave and Margo Wittick arrived in Barrie in 1967.
The
doors at Barrie's newest high school, Eastview, were about to open.
The new
principal, Bob Mitchell, interviewed 30-year-old Dave Wittick and said
he'd
do just fine. He could teach music and he would be very good. Remember,
this is a school with no history, no traditions, no school spirit, no
reputation.
Two kids signed up for music that year. Not enough for a class. Not
enough
for a choir. So, another 28 were 'encouraged' to add the study of music
to
their education roster and Dave began his time at Eastview with a teacher's
nightmare: a class full of kids who mostly didn't want to be there.
Now, this is where the teacher flourishes or perishes. There's no doubt
Dave was a fine musician, holder of his A.R.C.T. (Associate of the Royal
Conservatory of Toronto) possessor of grade 10 piano, grade 4 theory.
He
was a songwriter, a music recorder, a man who lived for cadence, and
rhythm,
and musical significance.
Faced with a class of reluctance, Dave drew down into his soul and
took his
wife's advice. "Get to them Dave. Get to them where they are,"
she said.
Dave asked them about 'their' music. (In 1967 the radio waves were bouncing
with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and several one-hit
wonders). He asked them to bring in their records. He listened with
them
to their music. He revelled in their music. He formed a choir and they
sang 'their' music. He built assignments around the music his students
loved. He 'got' them. And then he challenged those students with ways
to
improve that music, those lyrics. He taught kids how to analyze lyrics,
and
gradually, with stealth, he introduced Beethoven. Then Mozart. Some
Taichovsky. Bach. Carefully. With respect. Telling the stories, the
incredible drama of the lives of these musicians.
Dave Wittick, the musician and Dave Wittick, the teacher. Eastview
Secondary Students were very lucky. They were lucky from 1967 to 1987
when
Dave retired. During those years music lived inside David Wittick. He
opened up his soul and poured it into his community. Students like Shawn
Mei, guitarist, now head of Music at Midland Secondary School. Students
like Peter McAllister, of guitarist duo Wilson & McAllister. Students
who
spent a year on the Road with Up With People. David Wittick reached
many,
many kids.
As he turned the reins over to Steve Wingfield in 1987, Dave and Margo
spent
their first winter in Florida, finding a Canadian community in Port
Charlotte. There Dave found an eager group of retirees who wanted to
sing.
For nine years Dave had a choir of 90 voices travelling all over the
state
and drawing significant attention with every note.
When Margo was battling stage 3 colon cancer four years ago, the Witticks
came back to winter in Barrie and take on the battle. Dave would drive
Margo to chemotherapy, but his normal, helpful, enthusiasm began to
dull.
Margo, anxious to connect, would ask Dave to play. He'd sit at the
keyboard, poise his fingers over the keys, and drop them. "I don't
want
to," he'd say. In fact, he stopped speaking in sentences. Dave
was meeting
Alzeimers, the disease that took him away from himself and from Margo
long
before his death in August.
Unable to converse in sentences, he was still able to sing. A few buddies
started coming round on Tuesday nights and together, the "Back
Porch Boys"
would belt out a few numbers. Dave Wittick could still sing.
Dave's decline continued. Margo attached bells to all the outside doors
of
their Horsehoe Valley home. That way she'd hear him when he wandered.
His
personal care became her daily routine. For three years Margo lived
in the
truest sense the meaning of "in sickness and in health" and
it was with real
despair that she packed Dave's clothes and helped him settle in to Leisure
World in Orillia last March. As she wept over her decision, Dave put
his
arm around her and said "It's nice. It's nice."
David Wittick's body died very quietly on the afternoon of August 14.
His
mind began the journey well ahead of him. As Margo and her family prepared
Dave's celebratory send-off, they delved back into the past and brought
forward the Dave Wittick that breathed music into people's lives. His
friends spoke. His family prepared a remarkable video story of his life.
And the Back Porch Boys (Dave's final choir) saw him off on his final
flight
with a healthy round of "My Blue Heaven."
For Margo, missing Dave is a daily ritual. She missed him long before
he
left. His tunes remain. Dave's songs and lyrics, written, recorded,
nestle
in shelves in his music room, like cadences in his song of life.
Thanks, Dave.
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