Happy Birthday Ivyle Zander
She's Turning 100 Next Week!
By Jean Bartlett CORRESPONDENT, Padifica Tribune
Article Launched: 04/22/2008 06:36:49 PM PDT
Click here to read the original article.
In 1908 Theodore Roosevelt was President, the Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line and in the city of Ottumwa, Iowa a little girl named Ivyle was born. Ivyle Zander, who can be contacted in care of the Pacifica Nursing and Rehab Center, will turn 100 on April 30. She will celebrate her day with family and friends at a nearby restaurant.
"My father's name was Charles Peck," Ivyle said. "He was the youngest of twelve and he was born on a farm. He hated every inch of farming so he came to Ottumwa to be a watchmaker. My mother, Calla, was born in Hannibal, Missouri. Her father died when she was quite young and she had to go to work. She worked in private homes and earned one dollar a year plus one new dress. When I think of the sacrifices she had to make that no one knew about. No wonder she got married at 18! I had one younger sister, by two and a-half-years. She had an extraordinary mind, like a computer, she could remember everything. She died three years ago from Alzheimer's — that was strange."
"We had kerosene lamps when I was growing up," Ivyle said. "We didn't have video games. When I was a kid we used to dig trenches in the backyard and pretend we were World War I nurses."
She remembers when electricity became more the norm. "I was in high school and we assembled to hear Calvin Coolidge broadcast from Washington D.C."
Ivyle particularly remembers the flu epidemic of 1918. "My father didn't even stay at home," Ivyle said. "He would come to the door with a flu mask on. This was to prevent him from bringing the flu into our home. I remember him saying: 'My faith will carry me through.' Even though he was a watchmaker, when a member of our church would lose their battle with the flu, he would see to it that they had a proper burial."
"My father also did piano tuning and we had a piano. We used to go to what they called 'revival meetings' and music was played. When I was five, I would go home and play what I heard by ear and the wonderful thing was, my parents insisted that I take lessons."
Ivyle had private lessons and then went to and graduated from the Ottumwa Conservatory.
"My first short-lived career was a librarian because the head librarian was in our church and she thought I'd make a good librarian; which was absolutely not so. We had to report on three books a year and I reported on three detective stories — because I loved detective stories. The head librarian was not pleased with my performance; she thought detective stories were 'trash.' I was a rebel!"
What Ivyle really wanted to be was a theater organist and at age 20, she went to theater organ school. Her parents, who were staunch Christians, weren't completely thrilled with their daughter's career path but they wanted her to be happy, so they were very supportive.
"Theater organist in 1929; what a career choice!" laughed Ivyle. "That's when talking movies came out!" Nevertheless Ivyle got a job as theater organist in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. "The picture was screened for you so you would know when there were breaks or when to change the music. You had one line of music in front of you, proper music for the film and it also contained the cues: door opens, hero enters and so forth." Much later in life, Ivyle would be invited to play the Castro Movie Theatre organ.
The first movie the organist accompanied was a Clara Bow film. However, Ivyle lost her enthusiasm for Rhinelander, Wisconsin when the nearby church refused to let her play their organ. "I wanted to keep up my skills on the church organ which is very different from a movie theater organ. But I was told anyone playing at a theater was not allowed to play at their church. That made me very homesick," said Ivyle.
Back home, Ivyle played at three big theaters, filling in during the organist breaks. Her father was working at that time as a watchmaker for C.O. Arnold (actor Tom Arnold's grandfather.) C.O. Arnold opened a jewelry store in Pasadena and offered Ivyle's dad a job. The family plus one friend headed out West. It was still 1929 and The Depression was on.
"We drove to California in an Essex Sedan and talk about loaded down five people, spare tires, cooking equipment. I can tell you, my sister and I were experts at patching a tire. We could do it quicker than any boys we knew!"
She took the 'Red Car' to Los Angeles to get a job. Her father found her a job as a grocery clerk. She also took a job teaching organ on a piano at Paramount Theater Organ Studio downtown Los Angeles where actor Edward Everett Horton was working (Horton was later known as the narrator for "Rocky and Bullwinkle Fractured Fairy Tales.") The theater was a letter drop for Jimmy Lederer who worked for the Santa Fe Railroad. Ivyle and Jimmy married in 1931.
"We got our wedding rings in the Five and Ten Cent Store," said Ivyle. A short time later they were replaced by $5 platinum wedding rings bought at a going out of business sale in New Orleans. "Somebody in the family has mine today and it hasn't gone green yet!"
Jimmy had been in show business. He was a working violinist, he played the banjo, and he had owned a publishing business in New York City. He had also worked as a musician at the Bon Ton Caf in Los Angeles. Bill Harrah (founder of Harrah's Casino) had 'a slot machine place next door,' and he and Jimmy became life-long friends. "We never paid for a show at Harrah's," said Ivyle.
After they married, Ivyle and Jimmy became small movie theater owner/operators.
"We started out running a small movie theater in New Orleans. We sold that when a theater in Bastrop, Texas (near Austin) was up for sale and needed sound equipment which we had."
"When we were in Bastrop it was the time of Bonnie and Clyde," said Ivyle. "So the sheriff gave us a revolver. We got afraid of every car we'd see and pretty soon we thought, we'd go and shoot one another. So we gave the revolver back!"
Their two daughters were born in Bastrop; Lillian and Rita. Rita, born with Down syndrome, died at age 51. "She was a precious girl who brought us into fields we never heard of," said Ivyle. "My living daughter Lillian is an absolute angel on earth."
Ivyle and Jimmy enjoyed running the movie theater. "We had 'Bank Nights' (drawing for cash prizes) and 'Show Nights' (first runs) and we ran all the cinema newsreels: "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" and "Pioneer Days."
Ivyle's husband would start making newsreels back then and sell the footage to Paramount at $5 a foot. He would go on to become an award-winning Universal Newsreel cameraman. Lyndon Johnson was just traveling up the political ranks at the time and Jimmy captured Johnson on newsreel.
"We were in Washington D.C. when Lyndon Johnson was Vice President," said Ivyle. "I went up to Johnson and said: 'Hey, pardon me but do you remember your old friend from Texas, Jimmy Lederer?' And Johnson said: "Jimmy Lederer! Where is that old booger?"
Ivyle and Jimmy moved to the Bay Area in 1950 when Lederer was offered a cameraman job in San Francisco. "It was post war and everyone was coming to the Bay Area to live. We couldn't find anything in San Francisco. But we were the first ones in the Dolger Apartments in Daly City." Among the many things Jimmy captured on film was Pacifica's 1957 incorporation.
Jimmy Lederer died in 1969. A few years later Ivyle bought a Dolger home where she lived for 36 years. "I was a widow for any number of years and came to really like it," laughed Ivyle. "I knew I would never meet someone because I had a handicapped daughter to support." By that time Ivyle was teaching music through the Westlake Music Company and then the Serramonte Music Company. She would eventually meet and marry Maury Zander.
"I got married at 75," said Ivyle. "Can you imagine? Maury was 68. We were married May 3, 1983 and there was a big article in the Pacifica Tribune. Maury worked for the Tribune; he was the layout man for the front page. He had also worked for the Call Bulletin and The Transfer. He got his union pin for 72 years in the business."
"We had 25 wonderful years together," said Ivyle. "We traveled and did stuff we would never have done otherwise." Maury died not long after both he and Ivyle entered Pacifica Rehab.
Ivyle Zander who is a mom, grandmother and great grandmother to many 'precious' people, who served for 12 years as organist for Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church of Pacifica and who is also a member of at least the American Guild of Organists and the Musicians Union has seen a lot of changes in this world since she first arrived; too many for one article.
But she does have this bit of advice to offer on longevity. "First of all, don't be afraid to go on up to anyone and ask them their name. That's what they're waiting for! Secondly, find a good faith and stick with it. My mother always said, "just remember wherever you are, you have a blanket of prayer over you.'
ATOS FOUNDER DICK LODERHOSE
PROMOTED TO GLORY
LODERHOSE, Richard E., born in Brooklyn, N.Y., August 16, 1925, he passed peacefully April 10, 2008, in Tampa. He attended Richmond Hill High School and the University of Rochester as a naval cadet.
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a specialist for welfare and recreation and was the organist for all chapel activities at the U.S. Naval Base in Little Creek, Md. Subsequent to his naval service, he was employed in the family business, then known as the United Paste and Glue Co., in New York City. Along with his father, Herman C. Loderhose, he built United into the national adhesive manufacturer called United Resin Products, Inc. He was a gifted CEO, master salesman, and innovator in packaging patents, coatings and adhesives.
In 1997, Mr. Loderhose sold United to the Henkel Corp. and remained with Henkel for the next four years as a senior director of the company. Mr. Loderhose had a lifelong passion for music, particularly the theatre organ. He was well known for his preservation, restoration, performance and support of the instrument. The gem of his extensive collection being the 55 rank New York Paramount Studio Theatre Organ, which was, until recently, located at the family-owned Bay Theatre in Seal Beach, Calif.
In June 2007, Mr. Loderhose gifted this magnificent instrument to The Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix, Ariz., where it is being reinstalled for the enjoyment of the residents, members, congregants, staff and the entire Phoenix and theatre organ community. He was a past president and founding member of the American Theatre Organ Society. He played the organ professionally under the name "Dick Scott" and made numerous recordings for his own label, Renwick Recordings, Inc., as well as for United Artists Records.
An avid yachtsman, Mr. Loderhose also had a great passion for World War II air sea rescue boats. He refurbished and restored numerous rescue/crash boats during his lifetime (Music Man I through VI) and was often a speaker at events sponsored by crash boat organizations throughout the country. His philanthropy included the donation of a restored 64-foot rescue boat to the Sea Scouts of Marina Del Rey in California.
When Mr. Loderhose retired from the glue business in 1997, he spent most of his remaining years in Newport Beach, Calif., attending to his yachting and musical interests. He was a member of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
His final years were spent in Tampa. He is at rest now, knowing that whatever his passion, he succeeded. He would want everyone to know that he truly had a ball and would go out playing "Ain' t Misbehavin' " or "Anchors Away" if he could; and those who knew him would agree. Life was good. He dearly loved his family and friends and was grateful for the life he led.
He is survived by his daughters, Rena L. Singer and her husband, Joel B. Singer, and Mari J. Galloway and her husband, Michael G. Galloway; six grandchildren, Beryl, Garrett and Lindsay Firestone, and Robin, Adam and Shannon Galloway; his loving sister, Grace E. Kerr; and former wife, Marie Tepper. He was remembered lovingly by his first wife, and lifelong friend, the late Jane D. Loderhose.
Donations can be made to the American Theatre Organ Society, or the charity of your choice in his memory. The memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 19, 2008, at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Ariz. Marsicano-B. Marion Reed-Stowers Funeral Home.
The Mighty Rodgers that Jack built
The Theatre Organ Society International is pleased to announce a Musical Spectacular on Saturday, August 9th at 8:00 PM, at none other than the world famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It is being made possible by a very generous donation by Jack Moelmann, the TOSI Secretary and Executive Director, to obtain the Music Hall for the day and the program.
The program will be entitled “A Musical Showcase featuring Col. Jack Moelmann and Friends at the Mighty WurliTzer Theatre Pipe Organ”. The Friends include: Dan Bellomy, Russell Holmes, Fr. Gus Franklin, and Walt Strony with Nelson Page serving as the Emcee. This may be the first time in a long time that this type of show will be open to the public. It is planned to have the organ amplified, as it should be, and the second console will also be used for some duets. The program will include a variety of music and styles by these very capable organists plus an audience sing-a-long with the words on the screen and Jack’s “Tribute to America”. We hope you might consider being there.
For additional information send an e-mail to RadioCityShow@aol.com or call (618) 632-8455. More details will be posted here as they become available.
Advance Ticket Sales: $50.00 each for General Admission. Click here to purchase tickets.
The RCMH Mighty WurliTzer is a 4-manual, 58-rank Theatre Pipe Organ, Opus #2179. It was built and installed in 1932 and remains in its original location. It is the largest theatre pipe organ that the WurliTzer Company ever built. The organ features identical consoles on both sides of the proscenium. The consoles are not master and slave but are completely independent twins, each with fully working controls and independent combination actions. The consoles roll out horizontally on tracks from curtained alcoves on either side of the proscenium to the lip of the stage. The organ is housed in four chambers: Great, Solo, Orchestral, and Percussion, and an unenclosed Grand Piano.
Second Annual Poor Man's Pipe Organ Convention
Saturday and Sunday, May 3rd and 4th, 2008
Granada Theatre, Old Town Kern, Bakersfield, CA
The console of the Granada Theatre's Mighty Pipe Organ.
Hosted by Jim and Lucy Spohn, Theatre Owners
The Poorman's Pipe Organ Convention is coming up on the First weekend in May, Saturday and Sunday, May 3rd and 4th. Any amateur organist that would like to try their hand at playing a short silent movie is welcome to do so. Call Jim Spohn at (661)330-6733 and let him put you on the schedule. He can provide you with a DVD of the short film you will play so you can practice and get familiar with the movie.
If you have ever dreamed of playing a silent movie on a four manual Mighty Theatre Pipe Organ in a real working theater, you need to take action now for this may well be the only and last chance you will ever get. This will be a dream come true for all who love the King of Instruments. The Walnut Hill Production team will be there with recorders and cameras to cover this historic event held in Californa.
The Bone Doctor rehearsing on the Mighty Conn 650 Theatre Organ.
Jim Spohn, owner of the Granada Theatre in Old Town Kern says, "I play movies all the time and you can't be any worse than I am." He was kind enough to send a DVD to me containing the short silent film entitled The Paper Hanger's Helper starring Buster Keaton and other silent film greats.
Admission to the Convention is free. The doors open at 9AM on Friday and the Mighty Robert Morton Theatre Pipe Organ will be available from 9Am on Saturday until 5PM on Sunday. Bring a sleeping bag or stay at any of several hotels near the theatre. Lucy's famous Juicy Cheeseburgers and lots of other delectable goodies and beverages will be sold in the consession stand. Be prepared to have the time of your life listening to and playing the Mighty Theatre Pipe Organ at the Granada Theatre in Old Town Kern, Bakersfield, California. See you there!
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