Stephanie Sundine - Garfield Gashouse Gang - Opera Singer

Stephanie Sundine


Source of this verbatim quotation:

"As a third-grader in Moline, Illinois, Stephanie Sundine knew that she wanted to sing. In her interview with OperaMom, Sundine recalled sitting in her classroom enraptured, listening to the beautiful soprano voice of her music teacher. "I remember being so happy whenever it was time for music class, since we did a lot of singing. That same teacher became my homeroom teacher in fifth grade, and everyday I would go into class and say, 'Mrs. Leland, are we going to have music today?' She was patient for a while, and then finally told me nicely to stop asking her!" The daughter of supportive and high public-profile parents (her father, a newspaper owner/editor and her mother, one of the first women in the U.S. to have her own TV talk show), Sundine sang her first solos with her church choir when she was still in eighth grade. "I most admired my voice teachers and music teachers, and appreciated their encouragement and hard work with me." Her first opera recording, La boheme with Victoria de los Angeles, was evidence of her admiration for full-throated soprano voices, which grew to include Tebaldi, Freni, and Nilsson, among others.

After graduating with her B.M. from the University of Illinois, Sundine remained in the Chicago area for four years, performing regularly as a freelance artist with small opera groups as a lyric mezzo. For two summers she was an apprentice with Chautauqua Opera, and attended opera workshops run by Boris Goldovsky, the famed conductor and impresario. "I did three national tours with Goldovsky Opera, singing small roles as well as performing various roles with small companies in New York City." It was at an audition for one of these companies, New York Lyric Opera, that she met her future husband, conductor Victor DeRenzi. "I had seen Victor conduct a couple of performances for them. At my audition, totally unbeknownst to me, he decided he wanted to marry me, and made sure the company hired me for Meg in the Falstaff he was conducting." Very soon after rehearsals for Falstaff began, they got together - the beginning of a relationship which would have a profound and positive impact on her career and her future. "When I met Victor, he felt that I had much more voice than I was using. He encouraged me to change my vocal technique and helped me to develop a much more professional sound." Through the guidance of DeRenzi and her voice teacher, Sundine made the transition from lyric mezzo to soprano. "Over the course of a few years I went from singing Cherubino to singing Isolde, with lots of roles in between!" she exclaimed."

More Stephanie Sundine information.

Stephanie's website.

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GJ - The Sundines went to Garfield. Every so often we saw Pat Sundine in her TV makeup at the school. Mrs. Leland, one of our teachers, had an exceptional voice, so she led our Christmas programs. The teachers traded off certain classes, so we had Mrs. Leland for singing. I remember my mother saying in a hushed voice, "She was first soprano in the Augustana choir."

Augustana was known for its music program. Note the connection with the Moline Boys Choir and Dr. Fred Swanson.

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Pat Sundine included a brief news report on her show.

Captain Ernie has a great post on the TV show hosted by Stephanie's mother, Pat Sundine - Especially For You. I have copied a little from it and borrowed the above photo:

However - on with the show. I simply adored being the on the air hostess of E for You! I had a completely fabulous time - George Sontag was a dear man (I called him "the chocolate bear") - why, I don't recall - I met and cherished many people, home grown and celebrities! - one of my most favorite segments was called "Fables of our Times" - I then had fascinating interviews with people about their lives, people who were then at my age now! The aim of the show was to entertain and inform - I guess we accomplished those goals - among the famous guests were; Pat Boone, Sebastian Cabot, singing quartet The Ames Brothers, Vincent Price, Duke Ellington, Clyde McCoy, orchestra leader Montavoni, actress Celeste Holm, famous orchestra leader Carmen Cavallero, film actor Joel McCrea, bandleader/singer Bob Crosby (Bing's brother), President Ronald Reagan (I filmed him when he was spokesman for General Electric), American society figure Perle Mesta, actress Sylvia Sidney, Loren Green, Robert Young (several times - his doctor lived here), Mary Ann Mobley who was one of the Miss Americas and many others.

I had such a fine and rewarding time - I still dream about it!

I have been Mrs. Fredrick Jasper Edwards for 18 blissful years and I couldn't be happier - Jack Sundine is living in St. Petersburg, Florida - we see each other and talk often. My two daughters are a blessing to us - Krista Kruse lives in Moline and Stephanie Sundine lives in New York.

John Patrick Sundine, my son and their brother, died this past December due to complications from diabetes which he suffered from at the age of seven years.

I must mention Anita Sundin wrote commercials and when I was away, took my place on Especially for You. She was just awarded by the State of Iowa a prize for being the person in the whole state that for years has read books for the blind. Quite an honor and quite a gal!

Love, Patricia Sundine

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John Sundine's obituary.

He played Mars in Man on the Moon, by John Phillips.

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Quad-Cities Online

1951 -- 50 years ago

Jack Sundine and Gil Johnson, both of Moline, have been named editor and production manager, respectively, of the Moline Dispatch, it was announced by the publishers. Sundine replaces the late Wilbur Mueller, who died last year. Johnson, who had been telegraph editor of the newspaper, will be replaced by C.H. Woods of Davenport. The position of production manager recently was created.

Moline Boys Choir - Fred Swanson

Linda Nelson Pearson scanned this from a program. I added some color so you can find her son. Left-click for a much better view of the photo.

Moline Boys Choir at the St. Louis arch.


The Moline Boys Choir has been famous for many years.

I remember Dr. Fred Swanson auditioning us in the dreary basement of Garfield. Needless to say, I did not make the cut. I remember Larry Eyre, Bruce Johnson, and Greg Keller joining. I think Larry was a Whiffenpoof at Yale, too.

The choir has a Facebook page with a faded photo on it. Good grief - they can do better than that for a famous Moline institution. At the moment I cannot find an old photo of the choir or one of Fred Swanson.

Initial searching showed that Fred Swanson graduated from Augustana College and had a big impact on music in the Quad-Cities. I hope to post more in the future, with some help from Moliners.

From Moline Boys Choir to Jim Bakker.

Connecting to Our Hometown: Reunions and Facebook: Moline, Mayberry, Brigadoon

When I read about Ken Berry on his website, many details about Moline echoed what others have said and I have thought:

"Ken Berry was already five-eighths of the way to Mayberry when he was born in Moline, Ill., on November 3, 1933. Kenneth Ronald Berry was the second child (joining sister Dona Rae) of Bernice and Eugene Darrell Berry, who at the time of Ken’s birth was an accountant for John Deere Company."

Early career:
"When I got the job and it took me away from home, that must have been very hard for my parents," Ken says. "But they were very supportive and it was really a thrilling experience for me. After the Horace Heidt show, I came back and finished high school in Moline. I used to drive up to Chicago once a week and take a voice lesson and a tap lesson in the same studio. But that didn’t last very long. After graduation, I went back out to California to look for work. And I didn’t get much at all."

Mayberry as Brigadoon
About Mayberry, Ken says, "It’s a wonderful place to visit and people would fantasize about living there. It’s a place like Brigadoon that shows up every hundred years. It’s a place you dream about living, but you know it’s fantasy and you don’t care."

Mayberry Like Moline
He adds, "I grew up among people very much like that -- a bigger town, but not much bigger -- and the neighborhood was very much like that and the people were very much like those characters. And it was fun for me to visit, too. It was one of my favorite half hours ever on television and that was long before I met Andy."

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GJ - My wife Chris and I talk about how much we enjoyed the 40th reunion of the MHS 66 class. She has always felt a part of my class, even though she met them after graduation, when we were at Augustana.

We have had a number of discussions with people on Facebook. The common theme is how pleasant people were to each other in Moline. It is no surprise that Ken Berry had the same experience earlier.

My father knew many people from work and from graduating from MHS. We had a lapboard where all his classmates inscribed their names with a woodburner. All his classmates seemed to be named Eric Johnson, John Ericson, Eric Ericson, John Johnson, Sven Svenson, Sven Ericson, Eric Svenson, John Svenson, etc.

Once we were discussing a local politician, and dad said, "I cannot believe he would be like that. His father was one of my teachers. His word was his bond."

With my mother in the Moline school system and my father in business, I was connected to everyone - one way or another. The kindly attitude was expressed in many different ways. When I went to Augustana College, a bike ride away, my mother's classmates were there.

The daughter of Dr. Andreen taught education at Augustana. "Are you going to be a teacher, too?" she asked. I said, "No, never."

Later I learned that Dr. Andreen left his position as a noted professor at Yale to become president of a threadbare college on the banks of the Mississippi. The little portable college, which barely survived, has become one of the best liberal arts colleges in America. Looking back, we can see how much people sacrificed to create a better life for future generations. I wonder if the same will be said about us Boomers.

I can imagine Ken Berry recognizing the fictional characters of Mayberry being so much like Moliners. I will have to write about them too.

Some future posts will include the Flood, and the burial place of Charles Dickens' son.

Brigadoon: "It's Almost Like Being in Love."

From Country Schools to Garfield - Gladys Parker Jackson

Co-ed, 1931.

Graduation, Augustana College, 1943

Included in my piles of old photographs were one pose of my mother, captioned "Co-ed, 1931" and another marked "Augustana graduation, 1943."

My mother began teaching by attending a normal school (teacher's college) for one year at Normal, Illinois. She taught all-ages in one-room country schools and took courses at Augustana College.

The twelve-year span between starting school and finishing a degree is a measure of how difficult things were during the Great Depression.

My mother was devoted to teaching and loved her students. She was at Garfield first thing in the morning, long before anyone else. She took a nap in the nurse's office each day, with permission from the principal. Some teachers told on her, so he replied, "If you came as early as Gladys and stayed as late as she did, you could all take naps every day too."

I grew up with kids introducing themselves to me by saying, "I had your mother as my teacher! She was the best one I ever had!" My mother was the rock star of teaching. She went to night school to get a master's plus, and that included stints at the University of Illinois, summer school.

She also taught Sunday School without complaint. Vacation Bible School - she was glad to teach there, too.

I had my mother as a teacher only in English class, due to nepotism rules, but she was my teacher at home. She kept the house stocked with books for all ages. Although I was ejected outdoors to play, I never lacked for reading material. The small library at Garfield was handy for those extra hours I spent at Garfield. Many children's classics were kept there or in individual classrooms.

My mother had a positive, can-do attitude about everything. Ornery students were simply kids with great potential and a need for a few head-raps and phonetic reading lessons. The knuckle-raps were rare, but never withheld when needed. She never tired of learning more so she could teach better. And she graded papers all the time, relentlessly.

"Mom?"
"Be quiet, I am grading papers."
"Mom?"
"I am grading papers."

The other teachers in the Moline system met high standards too. They prepared us well for college. We had, in effect, private school quality and safety we took for granted.

I tell people about MHS graduation rehearsal, when someone smarted off to the vice-principal. Everyone saw the vp grab the boy by his shirt and say, "Don't talk like that to me." Halos appeared above 750 heads as we became silent and attentive.