Thaddeus Alto Tatum

Funeral services for Thaddeus Alto Tatum, Jr., 91, of Longview will be 2 PM Monday, February 2, 2004 at the First Presbyterian Church with Dr. W. D. O?Neal and Rev. Jonathan Jehorek officiating. Entombment in Rosewood Park Mausoleum will follow under direction of Rader Funeral Home. Alto was born February 19, 1912 in Morgan, Texas and died Thursday, January 29, 2004 in his home. He was the only child of Thaddeus Alto Tatum, Sr., a Baptist minister, and Bettie Walston both of Shilo, North Carolina. When he was a young boy the family moved to Ft. Worth, Texas, where his father continued his ministry. Alto was educated in Ft. Worth where he received both his bachelor and masters degrees from Texas Christian University. During his tenure there, he played trumpet in the TCU Band, the TCU Orchestra, and the ROTC band. He served as the assistant band director for the TCU band from 1930 to 1934. In his early career, Alto played trumpet professionally with the Ft. Worth Symphony, the Ft. Worth Fat Stock Show Band, and throughout the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Alto began his band directing career in 1935 when he organized one of the first band programs in Upshur County at East Mountain, near Gilmer. In 1936, he became band director in Gladewater where he developed the band into one of the best in the state. In 1939, the Gladewater High School Band was invited to perform at the Worlds Fair in New York City. During his thirteen years as band director, the Gladewater High School Band was named the Texas Lion?s Club Official Band, representing the State of Texas at three Lion?s Club International Conventions, winning first place in 1948. In August of 1948, Alto left the band directing field and began a retail band instrument business, Tatum Music Co. in Longview, TX. Alto Tatum is well-known in the music industry and among band directors, as a person who worked hard to promote band programs. He is recognized in East Texas as one of the most outstanding band directors and clinicians as well as a music dealer, teacher, counselor and friend. That dedication and love of music has been recognized by his peers in numerous awards including induction into the Texas Band Masters Hall of Fame and the Texas Christian University Band Hall of Fame. In 1981 Alto received the Outstanding Contributor Award for the Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Mu for his contribution to music education. His contribution to the community is reflected by the display of his band director?s uniform at the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore and mementoes of his Gladewater days housed in the Gladewater Museum. Alto was a member, elder and trustee of First Presbyterian Church of Longview and a member of the Lion?s Club. He had a love for history and genealogy and traveled the world extensively pursuing these passions. He was a member of Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of the Confederacy and the Jamestown Society. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Margaret Eugenia Wright Tatum of Longview; his daughter, Judith Wright Tatum Cabeen and husband, Clayton Frederick, Jr. of Beaumont; his son, Thaddeus Alto Tatum, III and wife, Lisa Carol Tarrant of Plano, TX; Four Grandchildren, William Robert Schrader, Jr. of Bay City, TX, Clayton Alto Cabeen and Adrienne Eugenia Cabeen of Beaumont, and William Thomas Tatum of Plano; and one Great Granddaughter, Meagan Taylor Schrader. Pallbearers will be Neil Grant, Stanley Walker, Jim Sinkule, David Harper, Doice Grant, John Morgan, Orville Kelly and Leo Stevens. Honorary Pallbearers include Carroll Colvert and all East Texas Band Directors. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday afternoon, February 1, 2004 from 4 to 6 PM. Memorial contributions may be made to Greater Hospice of Texas, Inc., P. O. Box 9725, Longview, TX 75608 or to the American Cancer Society, 1301 S. Broadway, Tyler, TX 75701

Thaddeus Alto Tatum

February 19, 1912 - January 29, 2004