Beatrice Sanford Pease

is honored with a Medium Paver from Family & Friends

Beatrice Sanford Pease is honored with a medium paver from the following family and friends: Dick and Judy Burris; Marcia Kelly; David Mellick; Elizabeth and Kimberly Carroll; James and Thelma Ceasar; James and Catherine Cheek; Ruby Dillahunty; David E. Dillon; R. Lee and Janet Elliott; Larry and Judith Fear; Gary Fletcher; Lois Gordon; J. J. Hancock; Dorothy Hobson; Julia Hoppes; Modena Jacques and Sharon Smith; Guy Johnson; Jack and Bea Kirkham; Susan Linnebur; Marguerite M. Miller; Janice Mills; Cecilia Shenold; Elna Claire Valine; and Wichita Musicians' Association (Local 297, A.F. of M.).

Beatrice Sanford Pease is from a musical family in Wichita. Her parents were Audrey and Edna Sanford. Audrey was a clarinetist and active in many musical events. He tuned hundreds of pianos during his long life and played the clarinet until his death at 97. Edna was a hymn-singing follower of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and was with Carry Nation when she used a hatchet to smash the mirror over the liquor bar in the Eaton Hotel in the early 1900s.

Bea started taking violin lessons at 9 years of age. Her father went to a pawnshop and bought a violin for $50. When he brought the violin home and showed it to Bea, she said, "What if I don't want to play the violin?" Her father said, "You are going to play the violin!" She took lessons from Ralph Brokaw and Vendla Wilbur.

Bea began teaching violin lessons at age 14. She graduated from Wichita East High School and attended Fairmount College where she graduated in 1931. She began teaching violin lessons there and continued when Fairmount became the University of Wichita and Wichita State University. She taught at the university for over 50 years.

Bea first met her future husband Carlos when he came to her house to take clarinet lessons from her father. He was a fine clarinetist and played in many musical groups in Wichita. He also worked at Cessna for many years.

In 1944, Bea was one of the five founders of the Wichita Symphony and the first concertmaster. The opening concert was at the Arcadia Theater on January 21, 1945. She played in the symphony until 1985. She is a member of the Wichita Alumni Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, an international professional music fraternity, and a life member of Wichita Musicians' Association.

Bea writes in her book, Looking Back With Laughter, "The Wichita University String Quartet went to a small town in Kansas to play a concert. We got lost and had to go through a cemetery. When we found the one-room schoolhouse, there were very few students to listen to the concert. By the time we counted the money from the tickets, after paying our manager, we made $1.00. We sent the $1.00 to the dean of the School of Music, Walter Duerksen."

Another story from her book is: "I was playing a trio with Lois Gordon, cellist and Guy Snyder, pianist, in the KFH studio out in the country. A cow stuck her head in the window and scared me. I was playing a solo and lots of people called KFH and wanted to know what the 'moo' was all about."

Bea tells the story about the dedication of the Minisa Bridge across the Arkansas River: "I was asked to ride down the river standing in a canoe playing Thurlow Lieurance's 'By the Waters of Minnetonka.' I was dressed in an Indian costume and wearing a black wig with pigtails. I sat in the canoe and played." Thurlow Lieurance was head of the College of Fine Arts at Fairmount College from 1926-45.

Her daughter, Judy Pease Burris, writes: "She has been a role model for all women who desire to succeed in a career they genuinely love. And my mother does love music - it has kept her active and interested in life for all her many years. As her daughter, I am extremely proud of her and the positive impact she had in Wichita's musical community as a violinist and teacher. She is a wonderful mother and will always be an inspiration to me."

One of her friends said: "Bea has such a positive outlook on life and she can still laugh at herself."

On January 9, 2000, Bea celebrated her 90th birthday. She is still teaching private violin lessons and plays her violin every day.