Ella's Book: The Blessed Quest

By Ella June Whittaker Wolf

A five-year-old Meckling, South Dakota, farm girl climbs up on the chair next to her
mother. The church organ is playing a hymn and she begins to sing at the top of her lungs.
Heads started turning and smiles broke out all around. This young girl grew up listening
to great music and wonderful singing. She also loved to watch and listen to the birds sing
their special songs. A dream was born to her to sing beautiful music also. This dream
revealed her on-stage, singing the lead role in an opera with full orchestral accompaniment
and costumes. This spectacle was surely unusual for one, who had never seen an opera
performed. Young Ella June embarked on a blessed quest to reach her dream of singing
opera in New York City. Ellas Book: The Blessed Quest describes her journey under Gods
faithful blessing to be with us through it all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479736294

Ella June Whittaker Wolf

Ella June Whittaker dreamed of becoming an opera singer from age fi ve. Hers is a quintessential American story, but is unique since she practiced arias while driving her tractor through corn and wheat fi elds in South Dakota. At age thirteen, she studied voice at the University of South Dakota. Ella continued her voice training in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she began singing professionally at the age of nineteen. In California, she performed the role of Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel at College of the Pacifi c, Stockton. While at Eastman School of Music, she was chosen by Luigi Silva to sing the New York première of Hector Villa-Lobos’ “Bachianas Brasileiras, No. V.” In New York City, Ella studied with Madam Elda Ercole, who had sung at La Scala in Milan, Italy. Her vocal coach was Charles Wadsworth, Director of Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City. Ella sang in an Off-Broadway show at the Cherry Lane Theater, New York City. Currently, even at eightysix, this remarkable soprano vocalist continues to teach voice and perform solos!

Book preview

ELLA’S

BOOK

The Blessed Quest

ELLA JUNE

WHITTAKER WOLF

Copyright © 2012 by Ella June Whittaker Wolf.

Edited by Johnny Petzel

Library of Congress Control Number:          2012919569

ISBN:                  Hardcover                        978-1-4797-3628-7

                            Softcover                          978-1-4797-3627-0

                            Ebook                              978-1-4797-3629-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Subject Heading: History, Music, New York City, Meckling, South Dakota, Eastman School of Music, Whittaker Ancestry, Opera, Singer, Farm Life, Ranch Life, Faith, Dreams, Blessed, Autobiography

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the Holy Bible King James Version, which is in the Public Domain.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 by National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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119042

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Introductory Preview - A View from the Elevator

Ella’s View of Home Life

A Special Spot in the Grove

Shebe Goala’s Summer

Margaret’s Opportunity

Chapter 1 - Setting the Whittaker Stage

PLAYBILL

A Little Whittaker Family History

My Nieces and Nephews

Chapter 2 - My Grandparents

Evangeline Lowrey Whittaker

Grandpa W, Freedom Henry Whittaker

Peter Michael Sorenson and Alice Dickey Sorenson

Chapter 3 - Meckling

The Verdant Plains

Meckling Reunion

A Meckling Flashback

Donna’s Discovery

Jay’s Inventions

Friends

Chapter 4 - My Parents

Ira and Verna

Verna’s Account

Chapter 5 - Meckling Sequel

Mama and Music

Margaret, Mama, and the School Teacher

Farm Hospitality

Chapter 6 - Meckling Times Past

Robert’s Question

Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter

Ranching and Farming

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Chapter 7 - Meckling High School 1944 Graduates

My Senior Year

The Transient Worker

Meckling High School Graduation

Chapter 8 - Vermillion - Ella Goes to College

College Life

My First Trip Home

Park Concerts

Chapter 9 - Let’s Start the Journey

Harrisburg and Sioux Falls

First Singing Job

Writing Continuity

Return to Sioux Falls

Chapter 10 - California Excursion

Here We Come!!

Auditions After Three-day Train Ride

Hansel and Gretel

The Operas

Tours and Visit

Chapter 11 - Winner

Teaching Again - A Quest for Money

Teaching Friends, Wink and Whit

My Metropolitan Opera Audition

Chapter 12 - The Journey Continued - Eastman School of Music

Fellowship for Vocal Training and Theory

Leonard Treash/Opera Workshop

School of Music Life

Rubbing Shoulders with Great Musicians

Time to Decide

Chapter 13 - Why Now?

Parallels

The Dream

Our Inspiration

Teachers

Conductor

City Center Opera Company

Stature

Where We Studied Our Music

Vocal Exercises

World War II

Accompanist and Vocal Coach

A Tribute to Beverly Sills

Chapter 14 - The Impossible Dream - New York City

My Shubert Theatre Audition

Madam Elda Ercole

My Mumps Incubation Vacation

Some Singing Jobs

Charles Wadsworth

A Flash Forward

This Time Mumps for Real

Chapter 15 - The Impossible Dream - A Detour

Another Train Ride to Help Mom and Dad

Back to New York City

The Hospital Music Guild

Famous Clients

I Love New York

Summary

The Cast of Reprise

Chapter 16 - Harry Burgoyne Wolf - Our Marine

Impressions

Harry’s Family

Harry’s Tribute

Why Should We Honor Veterans?

Chapter 17 - Barton Whittaker Wolf

Tributes and Memories of His Life

Grieving Process

My Tribute to Bart by Tammy

Wendy’s Tribute to Bart Wolf

The Butterfly

Chapter 18 - Reprise

Through the Decades

My Thirties

New Jersey

Work in New York City

My Forties

Marriage

My Fifties

The Jersey Shore

My Sixties

The Caring Church

Life Changes

Adjustments after Great Loss

My Seventies and Suncoast Chorale

My Eighties

Eagles Preserve at Shell Point

The Academy Vocal Workshop

The Star Spangled Banner

Epilogue

Some Reflections

Dedication

This book is dedicated to significant others: my husband, Harry; my daughter, Tammy and her husband, Pastor Mark Mueller; my daughter, Wendy and her husband, my editor, John Petzel; and, especially to my grandchildren: Amy and her husband, Curtis Cornelison; Andrew, Joshua, Carla, Breanna, and Michael Mueller; Jeremy and Alyssa Petzel; and my great-grandson, Gideon Cornelison, that they may be inspired to fulfill their dreams and live useful and fruitful lives.

I desire that Ella’s Book may provide a path for them to become acquainted with the lives and struggles of their ancestors, especially my parents, Ira and Verna Whittaker, because they provided a Godly, Bible-based foundation for our family to build upon.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks and appreciation to my husband, Harry, for his patience and support of my writing efforts and his encouragement even when this left our household in disarray.

Thanks to my granddaughter, Alyssa Petzel, who wrote the excellent tribute to her Grandfather, Harry Wolf, when she was only ten-years-old.

Thanks to my daughters, Tammy Mueller and Wendy Petzel, who wrote about their dear brother Barton. They lovingly provided their written feelings and memories

Thanks to my fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Breanna Mueller for her beautiful rendition of the Butterfly on Lambs-Ear Plant, which I had commissioned for her to draw for the Barton’s tribute chapter.

Thanks to Andrew Mueller and John Petzel for the subtitle of The Blessed Quest to Ella’s Book.

Thanks to Joshua Mueller, who taught me how to scan and name the photo files.

Special thanks to John N. Petzel, my Editor, for his front and back cover designs. John also did all of the editing and placing of the photos, articles, and graphics. Without John’s help I would not have been able to achieve the kind of book I desired to present.

See the Ella’s Note which follows:

John Nick Petzel is an exceptional person. He has accomplished a great deal in his life in spite of adversity and has overcome much.

He was diagnosed with the metabolic disorder of Juvenile Diabetes at the young age of seventeen. He had to begin the discipline of diabetes care. He had to learn that ignoring this condition resulted in such episodes as the convulsions of insulin shock. He accomplished his education and lived a normal and full life as an excellent husband and father. He worked in the security of defense contractors.

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As John began his late forties and early fifties, he experienced a set of puzzling symptoms that finally resulted in a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Another overcoming battle began. John is a Godly man and loves Jesus and thus a healing journey began.

Wendy and John were able to visit us in July 2011. Then began his interest in what I had written of my life journey. I asked John to become editor. With his help and encouragement, I have re-written the manuscript and more creative features have emerged. We work together through computer and phone conferences since we live in different states. I sometimes affectionately refer to him as Johnny, which is what his late mother, Ruth, preferred to call him.

As I perceive my son-in-law and how he overcomes, it seems to me that he makes his adversity work for him. His brilliant mind and personality shines through despite his disease.

I have been privileged to work with Johnny on all the aspects of my book. He gently showed me things I need to correct or expand upon. I am proud to have Johnny Petzel as my Editor-in-Chief.

Prologue

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Ella’s Water Color—Age 13

The Stage is set and now enters a five-year-old western farm girl. She climbs up on the chair next to her mother. The church organ is playing a hymn, He Leadeth Me. She begins to sing at the top of her lungs. Heads started turning and smiles broke out all around. This young girl grew up listening to great music and wonderful singing. She also loved to watch and listen to the birds and listen for their special songs. As she watched, they also flew from tree to tree with such great freedom. She envied them. One of the birds was able to imitate the sounds of the other birds. That was intriguing. A dream was born to her to be able to sing beautiful music also. Another stage appears and, all of a sudden, she finds herself on-stage, singing the lead role in an opera with full orchestral accompaniment and costumes. This spectacle was surely an unusual circumstance for one, who had never seen an opera performed.

Well yes, that was me I was describing. Do I think God has blessed my young aspirations and quest of singing opera in New York City? A resounding yes! was His answer.

Life didn’t deal me an easy environment in which to nourish my gift. I endured many hardships but never lost sight of my goal. I must tell you that God does not promise to make life easy for us. What He does is promise to be there with us and through all. Holding our hand and guiding us. He also gives us complete freedom to make choices. I don’t describe any of the opportunities that came my way to make choices, which would have enhanced my career. I have never regretted that I made the right choices in this regard. Do I mean to imply that I have never made bad choices in my life? Certainly not, but I know now that God many times gave me protection and was faithful.

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Thus, I would love to tell you my story. Imagine our young adult children, all of our grandchildren, and one great-grandchild relaxing on sofas and chairs in our living room and listening to Grandma Ella tell her story.

When we first moved into Shell Point Retirement Community, I was interviewed by Glenda Stephenson, who was a Contributor writing for the Shell Point Life Magazine, but is now Church Administrator for the Village Church at Shell Point. She wrote my life story and managed to capture it in a beautiful way. Titled Hitting the High Notes, The Girl Who Dreamed of the Metropolitan Opera, my life article was published in the September 2008 issue. Truly, nothing more needs to be said about me, but with God’s help and blessing I would like to elaborate and give some detailed information for my family and friends. Because of the nature of my life journey, I am using theatrical terms for chapter titles.

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During the 1980’s, my brother Jay requested that each of his siblings contribute a chapter for a chronicled record of our family he was writing. I begin my story with the chapter I wrote for Jay’s book. This is the Introductory Preview chapter and I include it as a story within a story.

After losing my parents and siblings, I decided it would be of interest to my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have some record of their relatives. The Setting the Whittaker Stage chapter is biographical information and pictures of my entire family, but is not to be considered an official family tree. I have done no searching of web sites such as Ancestry.com.

The chapter titled "Why Now?" is an explanation of why I was inspired to write my story. Beverly Sills was a famous opera singer, who I discovered was also struggling along in New York City with her operatic dreams toward the Metropolitan Opera House, during the same time period as I was. I knew of her but didn’t know that much about her until I recently started reading her book titled Beverly. I have decided to dedicate the Why Now? chapter in her honor. I was surprised to find that she did not make her Metropolitan debut until she was forty-six years old. This enlightened me to what a difficult goal that I had set for myself, particularly without the built-in family support system she seemed to have. In a way this has been of some comfort to me and is why I titled The Impossible Dream chapter as I did.

The early chapters describe memories of childhood, school years, family and farm life in a place called Meckling, South Dakota. The next four chapters are a description of my musical journey including the challenges, the joys, and the beginning realization of what an impossible dream it had become.

The chapter called "Reprise," in theatrical terms, according to A Pronouncing Pocket-Manual of Musical Terms, (Edited by Dr. Th. Baker, G. Schirmer, Inc.: New York, 1903), is defined as a re-entrance of a part or theme after a rest or pause. I am using it as a sort of a game of musical Hop-Scotch, telling of how He kept me singing through the decades.

This is my life story from baby Ella to age twenty-eight when my life took another turn called marriage and children. I would like to encourage each one, especially my children,

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Me on Mama’s lap

grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, look for and explore your God given talents and abilities. Seek guidance, first in prayer to God and then as He directs, seek wise words and counsel from those who have pursued similar paths as yours. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)

Introductory Preview -

A View from the Elevator

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The Introductory Preview was written at the request of my brother Jay to each of his siblings to contribute a chapter for a chronicled record of our family he was writing. I have decided to begin my story with what I wrote for Jay’s book. The year was 1980 and since my dear sister Margaret was no longer living, I attempted to include aspects of her life intertwined with my story. I begin with what I wrote for Jay’s book. I have revised it somewhat and have added pictures. I called it The View from the Elevator. I include this as a story-within-a-story.

I don’t remember how old I was. I think I was too young to be considered as having effective memory, but I remember this day with exceptional clarity. (Of course the fact that I have heard the story retold a few times by older members of my family has helped to etch the events.)

My parents, Verna and Ira, had purchased a new Maytag washing machine, which arrived in good condition in a massive, sturdy wooden crate. This crate set into motion the creative instincts of my brother, the instigator, and my older sisters. Of my siblings, Jay was the oldest (11 years my senior); then came Donna (8 years older); Jean (7 years older); and Margaret (4 years older). Jay reasoned that the crate would make a wonderful elevator. Extremely tall elm trees surrounded our farmhouse, so he had no trouble picking just the right one, just a little to the southwest of the house. Jay had all of his sisters running for ropes and pulleys that we usually used for stacking hay. Somehow they managed to get this elevator to the desired height, but needed a test subject to try it out. Who do you suppose was elected to try it? Yes, baby Ella June or Ah June as I was sometimes called. I don’t actually remember all of my reactions, but I imagine I must have exercised my lungs to some degree as I was hoisted to the top of the highest limb. I then peaked through the cracks in the crate in terror, looking down at my older sisters and brother. The elevator became stuck at the highest point, and I had some time to begin observing the world below until they got me down. This was a fairly normal afternoon of creative play on the farm. We didn’t have television or