Wilson out of retirement for Memorial Day ‘Taps’

Playing the lovely echo to “Taps,” retired North Putnam band director John T. Wilson joins former pupil Charlie Boller in supporting Roachdale VFW Post 3284 for its annual Memorial Day rounds on Monday morning. A trumpeter since he was young, Wilson has been playing the melody at memorial ceremonies since his youth in Evansville.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

NEW MAYSVILLE — As a trumpet player since his youth, there’s no telling how many times John T. Wilson has played “Taps” in a cemetery over the years.

An Evansville native who spent his career teaching music at Roachdale and later North Putnam, Wilson has been in countless cemeteries in Western and Southern Indiana.

Whatever the number, nine tallies were added to it Monday morning as Wilson and former student Charlie Boller played for the Honor Guard of Roachdale VFW Post 3284.

Retired North Putnam band director John T. Wilson smiles after playing “Taps” for the Memorial Day ceremony at Bainbridge Cemetery as well as visiting with former students afterward.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

In Wilson’s youth, such ceremonies didn’t just come around once a year for Memorial Day.

“I grew up in Evansville in the ’40s and ’50s and there were an awful lot of soldiers coming back who had been killed in the service,” Wilson recalled. “I couldn’t keep track of how many times I played at funerals and cemeteries for the fallen soldiers.”

He even went on to tell of a time when he found himself without a car, but took a train the 40-mile roundtrip between Evansville to Mount Vernon to play a soldier’s funeral.

Wilson continued playing “Taps” after he graduated from Evansville College and moved north to teach vocal and instrumental music to grades 1-12 at Roachdale.

“I came up in ‘54 and started playing ‘Taps’ then,” Wilson recalled. “And then it was difficult to get out, so I made a recording that they used at Roachdale.”

Except for one year spent in Noblesville in the late 1950s, Wilson spent his entire career in Roachdale, first for Roachdale Schools, then as director of instrumental music for North Putnam from its 1969 consolidation through his retirement in 1994.

In those 40 years, Wilson certainly left an impression on the community, as the well wishers who approached him after the various services attested.

One woman at New Maysville was aware that Boller was playing “Taps,” but didn’t realize until Wilson began playing the echo that the old band director was also there.

“I heard this beautiful sound and I thought, ‘Mr. Wilson would be so proud of you,’” she told the two men. “And then I looked and said, ‘I think that is Mr. Wilson.’”

At 89 years old and 27 years into retirement, Wilson certainly doesn’t have to get out and do it, but emphasizes the importance of getting out.

“Charlie has been doing it for quite some time,” Wilson said. “I think two years ago is when I started. I’m always glad to do it. It’s very important.”