A Treasured Possession
Mary practicing for her 1957 piano recital
A Treasured Possession by Mary Louise Pick Wagner
A compilation of sibling memories
Music has been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. I first heard Perry Como’s Catch a Falling Star on the radio that sat on our kitchen island. We had a record player and lots of 45 rpm records. My sister Joan and I harmonized with songs like Mr. Sandman by The Chordetttes. Six Pick kids played the piano - Mary, David, Joan, Barbara, Connie and Kathy; Guy and Kathy - saxophone; Richard and Dennis - guitar; Kathy took voice lessons. A number of us participated in music related activities such as chorus, operettas and singing/choral groups.
My dad (Elmer) came from a family of singers and musicians where music was entertainment for the family during the very lean years after the father of the family passed away in 1922 and the Depression that followed in the 1930's. Dad, Sylvester, Lawrence and Raymond (Fr Ray), all of whom had beautiful voices, sang at many church functions. Dad joined the Iowa State College choral group as a student. His sister, Sister Aidan, OSF, head of the music department at Briar Cliff when she passed away in 1960, held a master’s degree in music and was an accomplished vocalist and pianist. Brother Andrew played the violin, and brother Raymond (Fr. Ray) played the saxophone. I’ve been told the Pick Family had its own band complete with vocalists, piano, violin and saxophone. (Dad, too young to be a part of this group.) The band played and sang for friends and family and at house parties in the Alton, Iowa area.
I’m the oldest of my siblings. In 1951, second grade, I started piano lessons. Until Dad bought a piano in 1952 or 1953 I practiced on the piano during recess in the dining room of St. Mary’s convent. By the time the piano arrived, David was taking lessons too.
David-The most accurate thing you could say about my piano lessons was that Mom paid for them. I never practiced except when I went to the convent for a "lesson." The nun would just sit me down, turn on the metronome and leave until my time was up. Mom quit sending me after the first recital. Not pretty.
Dad loved to tell the story about how the piano was purchased. On the day he and his sister, Sr. Aidan, went to the piano store in Sioux City (Schmoller & Mueller Piano Co, 414 Pierce St.), Sr. Aidan played every piano at least once and others two or more times, never looking at the prices. After narrowing it down to a select few and continued scrutiny, she finally pointed to a blonde Cable Nelson spinet and announced, “That’s the one, Elmer”!
I was very fortunate to have heard my Aunt Sr. Aidan sing and play the grand piano at Briar Cliff. Her voice - like a songbird, her fingers flying over the keys.
Joan - I practiced at the convent for a while even though there was a piano at home. I was so afraid of piano recitals. Mary, Barbara and I played a song together for one recital, and Mary and I played a duet for another. When we were on the farm, our dog Cookie “sang” when I played. I quit when I was in the 8th grade.
Barbara remembers she was taught to play by number and to this day cannot read a note of music. She quit after one year.
Connie - I took piano lessons when I was in 2nd grade. I always forgot my music and the nun who gave me lessons pulled the hair on the top of my head so I quit. I played Christmas songs all year round. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas was my favorite. One time Dad was home when I was playing and he told me to quit playing Christmas songs all the time!
Kathy - I had 5th grade piano lessons and played two recitals.... Mom came to listen. I wanted to try again when I was in high school so I took lessons for a short time from Sr Arnold.
Mom redid the piano after we moved to the farm…changed the color from blonde to dark. Dad, always very proud of the piano and the professional job Mom did refinishing it, never failed to point that out to new visitors.
L.P. Schimmer/Kingsley IA, our longtime piano tuner, raved about our piano’s excellent sound. He religiously documented the date of each tuning on the inside of the piano. In town or on the farm, if Dad happened to be inside when Mr. Schimmer came by for the piano’s regular tuning, he loved listening to Mr. Schimmer play. Our piano enjoyed excellent care.
In later years Joan and I mastered the duet version of Franz Shubert’s The Military March, our all time favorite, playing it many, many times over the years. I lasted the longest with piano lessons - ‘till junior year in high school and again when a freshman at Briar Cliff. But it is Joan who continues to play on the piano she bought new in 1972.
Two years after Mom became terminally ill, 1999, Dad began to dwell on what he and Mom had that was valuable enough to pass on to each of their children. But only three things came to mind. Third in line was the grandfather clock Dad inherited from his brother, Fr. Henry; next up was his ‘97 Chrysler LHS; at the top of the list, our beloved Cable Nelson piano…a treasured possession.
