School of Music Mourns the Loss of Richard Shanley

Our dear friend and former colleague, Richard Shanley, emeritus professor of music, passed away on March 16. He was a kind and thoughtful soul and will be missed and remembered by the many lives he touched. His family will be holding a graveside service at Oakwood Cemetery on Saturday, April 1, at 11 a.m.

He attended Olympic Junior College in Bremerton, WA, and Colorado State College in Greeley, and held previous degrees from New Mexico State University (B.A., cum laude) and North Texas State University (M.M.). Richard became a member of the Baylor faculty in 1969 and during his service earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in clarinet performance in August 1976 from North Texas State University under the direction of Dr. Lee Gibson. He and his wife, Helen, retired from Baylor in 2011.

The School of Music’s woodwinds department developed after the Shanleys arrival in 1969. When they first arrived, there were only seven instrumental majors among all the brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, and Richard taught all of the woodwind instruments, including clarinet, saxophone, oboe and bassoon, except for flute which Helen always taught.

Throughout his career, Richard performed as solo clarinetist with the El Paso, Ft. Worth and Waco Symphony Orchestras and was chosen to be State Chairman of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors. In 1972, he became a founding member of the Baylor University Faculty Woodwind Quintet along with Doris DeLoach, Helen Ann Shanley, William Robinson and Charles Price.

Richard’s clarinet teachers included Ronald Phillips of the Seattle Symphony, Dr. Wendal Jones, Dr. Ray Tross, Tom Ayres, Himie Voxman and Dr. William Gower.

He and Helen met while playing in the El Paso Symphony during their college years and have two daughters, Alison Lugo and Melissa Holland. He was a native of Bremerton, WA.