[Dixielandjazz] Geoff Woodhouse

[Schnabbels at aol.com]

Listmates,

Listmate Meg Graf gave us the sad message recently that Geoff passed away in 
Oregon. Geoff was an essential part of the OKOM scene for many, many years 
here in the Phoenix, AZ area and today, Thursday November 20, there was a 
gathering of friends, family and fellow musicians in Scottsdale, Arizona.

I should preface this by saying that I did not know Geoff very well 
personally, I only played with him a few times. Often enough, though, to realize that 
he was a special kind of guy bent to carve out his own niche in whatever 
direction it would take him.

The memorial was organized by Dick Knutson (Desert City Six) and hosted by 
Mary Woodhouse, Geoff's second wife. The attendance was impressive. There were 
the musicians, of course, but also many friends from the hot-air ballooning 
community, as well as former colleagues from the engineering department of Allied 
Signal Co.

Geoff was an avid balloonist. His balloon was aptly named "Passing Wind"! 
Need we say more? Funny thing: attendees were asked to take the microphone to 
share some anecdotal memories about Geoff. Only the balloonists stepped up to the 
mike. The musicians present had, of course, plenty of stories to tell as well 
but decided against it. Again, need we say more?

Geoff was born in Britain (Yorkshire) in 1931. He led his own band playing in 
the Hull area. He moved across the Big Pond to Canada in the mid-sixties 
leaving his job at Hawker-Siddeley (sp?). Moved on to Curtiss-Wright in New York 
and eventually made it to Arizona where he worked as a mechanical engineer for 
Allied Signal.

I realize that I am not doing any justice here to Geoff's legacy. I did, 
however, wanted to share with you a wonderful event that took place this afternoon 
in his memory.

Robert van der Plas
Scottsdale, AZ