Rotary receives Keller family piano
Marjorie Overdorff, one of Melvin and Beatrice Keller's four children, speaks during the recent ceremony to present the family piano to the Rotary. The Kellers were members of the Rotary and music was part the Rotary Club meetings because of them. "Music was the center of the Keller life and the piano was the heart of it all," said Overdorff. "When the family got together for special occasions we would gather around the piano." The gift of the piano is to allow the music to continue at Rotary meetings, said Overdorff. The instrument, said Hubbell, will be housed at Bud Murphy's Sports Bar and Restaurant, where the club meetings are held.
The Connellsville Rotary Club held a ceremony recently to accept a gift of a piano from the children of Melvin and Beatrice Keller. The Kellers were members of the Rotary and music was part the Rotary Club meetings because of them. The gift of the piano is to allow the music to continue at Rotary meetings, a family spokeswoman said. The instrument (picutred) will be housed at Bud Murphy's Sports Bar and Restaurant, where the club meetings are held.
?CONNELLSVILLE — For many years Beatrice Keller shared her love of music with the Connellsville Rotary.
Each week, she would take her seat at the piano and play the club’s favorite melodies to mark holidays, special occasions or just for fun.
Her death in April, at the age of 98, left its mark on organization members.
Chuck Hubbell, outgoing club president, said Keller and her husband, Melvin Keller, were dedicated to the service organization.
“(Melvin Keller) had perfect attendance for 68 years,” said Hubbell, noting that he died in 2008.
Beatrice Keller was an honorary member and played the piano until her health began to deteriorate.
Hubbell said when the organization gathered at her funeral service with the Keller family, the conversation turned to her devotion to the club and the joy and fellowship her music brought to each meeting.
“Music has always been a part of our meetings,” said Hubbell. “And, Bea was a very large part of that.”
To assure the music will live on at the Connellsville Rotary meetings, the family recently donated the Keller piano to the club.
The piano was a wedding gift from Melvin Keller to his bride in 1936.
“Music was the center of the Keller life and the piano was the heart of it all,” said Marjorie Overdorff, one of the couple’s four children during the recent ceremony to present the piano to the Rotary. “When the family got together for special occasions we would gather around the piano.”
A favorite, said Overdorff, was Handel’s “Messiah.”
“The piano was a great source of joy and pleasure to all of us, especially Mom,” she said. “It was a comfort to her in her last months.”
When the family gathered at her hospital bedside for the last time, like at home gatherings, they all sang hymns with the final song being the “Messiah.”
“She kept directing and smiling,” said Overdorff.
The gift of the piano is to allow the music to continue at Rotary meetings, said Overdorff.
“The family is very happy to make this donation,” she said.
The instrument, said Hubbell, will be housed at Bud Murphy’s Sports Bar and Restaurant, where the club meetings are held.
“It is an extraordinary gift,” said Hubbell.