STERLING D. WEED PASSED AWAY SUNDAY, SEPT 11, 2005 AT 104

STERLING D. WEED ST. ALBANS — Sterling D. Weed, 104, renowned orchestra leader and instructor of over 4000 music pupils and a musician who played for over one million people, passed away Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005, at his home. He was born in St. Albans Town on July 20, 1901, the son of the late Baxter W. and Henrietta (Jenne) Weed. Sterling joined Weed's Orchestra in 1928 as manager and formed Weed's Imperial Orchestra in 1930. He was director and teacher for the St. Albans Boys Band and later the St. Albans School Band. He also taught music in BFA of Fairfax, Milton, Enosburg and Franklin schools. He was leader of concert orchestras at St. Mary's High School and Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans. He directed the Enosburg Town Band, DeMolay Band, and Civic Symphony Orchestra in St. Albans. Recently he had been playing on the Spirit of Ethan Allen and had played at the inauguration for three Vermont governors. Sterling played on Friday nights for 32 years at Selby Lake in Canada and 18 years at Lake Carmi. He was a member of the FranklinGrand Isle Preservation Trust Fund. Survivors include Sterling's special friend, Meredith Gillilan of Fletcher; a cousin, Wilma Cowie of Underhill; sisters-in-law, Frances Flanders of St. Albans and Shirley Heller of Herndon, Va.; a stepdaughter, Judy Derby of Enosburg; a stepson, Richard Hoburn of Swanton; several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. He was predeceased by two wives, Leona Waite Weed in 1967 and Marion Wilder Weed in 1990; two brothers, Lorenzo Weed and Ora Weed; and a special friend, Cleon Gillilan on Aug. 24, 2005. A funeral service will be held Thursday, Sept. 15, at 11 a.m. in the First Congregational Church on Church Street. Interment will be in the family lot in St. Albans Bay Cemetery. Friends may call at the Heald Funeral Home, 87 S. Main St., St. Albans, on Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Franklin County Museum, P.O. Box 722, St. Albans, Vt. 05478, where a room is dedicated to Sterling. Messages of condolence are welcome at
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