Marcellene came from a working class family near Akron, Ohio. As an infant and toddler, her parents were chicken farmers. They would also race horse drawn carriages in Licking County. Her father worked at Firestone. Though she didn’t come from a family that emphasized reading and music appreciation, Marcellene was a self-starter. But she learned valuable lessons from her family, lessons that would shape who she was, and how she responded to life’s hardships. She learned that without tilling the soil, there can be nothing above the soil. She became a person that was down to earth, grounded, and pragmatic. She also learned how to pursue a passion from her mother. When a guest arrived, her mother replied once: “Don’t mind the dust. I don’t have enough time to deal with it.” Marcellene’s mother was a master quilter, and would say to guests “let me show you how I spend my life,” and then bring them into a room with all her masterfully made quilts. Mrs. Hawk would make dresses for Marcellene’s recitals, dresses she treasured and always held onto. Marcellene had a sister that was four years younger, Dorinda. They loved each other dearly, and both shared a passion for piano and music.
Marcellene started studying piano at age 7 with Myra L. Stevenson, continuing her lessons with Arthur Reginald before entering Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music where she graduated with honors, studying with John Wolaver and Gilford Plumley. She received her master’s degree from the University of Texas where she studied with Dalies Frantz, a student of Arthur Schnabel and Vladimir Horowitz. While still in graduate school, she won first prize in the National Guild of Piano Teachers Young Artists Recording Contest. She spent a season in Fontainebleau, France studying with Marguerite Gautier and Nadia Boulanger and performed in master classes with Clifford Curzon and Robert Casadesus. In 1967 she performed at New York’s Town Hall where a critic with the New York Times wrote that she played with “animation, delicacy and charm.” Marcellene was acclaimed for her many appearances in Ohio, Colorado, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and Canada. In addition to many solo recitals, she performed recitals with Cleveland Orchestra Musicians, Daniel Majeske, Bernard Goldschmidt, and others, and was soloist with the Bach Festival at Baldwin Wallace College, the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, the Parma Symphony, and the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, where she served as keyboardist for many years. Commenting on Marcellene’s playing, American composer and music critic Herbert Elwell wrote: “Her musical integrity and flawless technique stamp her as one of the best pianists in the area.” Faculty member of the Dana School of Music, she was previously Assistant Head of the Piano Department at the Cleveland Music Settlement School. It was during this time at the Cleveland Music Settlement School, that she would meet the love of her life, Wally. Marcellene would make wake up juice, as she called it, and so they met having coffee.
Marcellene and Wally were a match made in heaven, like a lock and key. They enabled the other to be complete. Wally’s response to Marcellene was often “Yes, dear.” And Deborah and Doug, Marcellene’s stepchildren knew there were many different kinds of “Yes, dear,” many with a mix of both love and defeat. Wally would also often say “Marcellene, you are my queen.”
They got married once they bought the house at 251 Redondo Rd. in Youngtown, a place where they both built a life from scratch. Marcellene was the alarm clock in the home, practicing piano early in the morning before anyone else would rise. Their life together was an open house, a celebration of friendship. Laughter was so much a part of their house: even when conversations were tense, they were always conversations in the service of broader learning, education without borders. Marcellene would say “We need a whole new paradigm of learning and study.” We must include everything. One day in a piano class, Marcellene walked into the classroom, and before uttering a word lifted a chair above her head and dropped it. She told the students afterward this was a lesson about gravity and timing. She was a collaborator with her students and those she mentored. She welcomed students in their home on Redondo with open arms, and made them feel like family.
Marcellene became the Director of Music at the First Unitarian Church in Shaker Heights, following the esteemed Robert Shaw. Marcellene was known for her boldness and shaking things up. Her first Easter in Shaker Heights, she brought in liturgical dancers who amazed and wowed the congregation. She remarked to a friend that she was planning to do this at our church in Youngstown, come Easter. She served as Director of Music in Shaker Heights for many years with distinction, where she was a founding member of the Orchestra of the Academy on the Oval.
Wally and Marcellene were both early music enthusiasts. In the 1980’s Marcellene and Wally spent 1,000 hours building a replica of the type of instrument Mozart would have been familiar with, a fortepiano made in 1787 now belonging to the Smithsonian. Her interest in historical keyboards drew her to the Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society, of which she became president. She and Wally also owned a historic French piano made by the Erard firm in 1856. In 1989, Marcellene gave a memorable performance when she recreated a piano recital given by Clara Schumann the same year the piano was made. Both Wally and Marcellene amassed a large book collection. One of Marcellene’s friends remarked going into their library and among the stacks of books, only seeing one small pile of books in a corner with a post it note on top which read: “Not Bach.” In their library were over 16,000 items related to Bach, which are now housed at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. It is not forever dedicated at that Conservatory as “The Marcellene and Walter Mayhall Book Collection devoted to 18th Century studies with emphasis on the Bach family, 18th century theory, and 18th century performance practice.”
One of Marcellene’s great gifts was communication. She taught us how to listen and pay attention. She learned from a PhD student in psychology in Boston how difficult listening really is. In a study performed, it showed that regardless of gender, race or class most people when asked to listen would interject their thoughts and opinions before someone could state fully what they were trying to say. This left an impact on Marcellene, and she would often tell the children or Wally: “That is not what your daughter said.” or “You are not really listening to your father.” She taught that communication takes work and awareness. It is an art, and we have to learn it. Marcellene taught appreciation, appreciation for the way things are, and bringing your best to things as they are. She taught through her marriage with Wally what can happen when you allow the right person in your life. She taught everyone around her how to get your own life under your own feet, and stand proudly in that place. She loved Doug and Deborah – when she spoke of them you could tell they were family, very precious to her. She was strong, passionate, energetic, sparkly, smart, resourceful, funny, and disciplined. Wally was always in awe she could have 1 cookie, thoroughly enjoy it to its fullest, and then walk away. That’s how she lived.
After Wally died, she was concerned that she wasn’t grieving, until she realized the reason: she was still waiting for him to come back. Even death did not separate them. Even after this loss, Marcellene dedicated herself to appreciating and savoring what she had, doing as much as she could while she could. Though disciplined, she was also fun, and allowed herself a diversion, like romance novels. But even this was more than a diversion. There were layers to it. She remained curious, and wanted to get a window into how other people lived, and how other people viewed relationships.
Marcellene was incredibly astute, and taught me many things. For my ordination, she told me you need Mozart – your energy demands it. Toward the end of her life she taught me two things I’ll never forget. I approached her about celebrating her life while she was still in hospice, and she told me point blank: “I don’t know how to celebrate a life. But I would like to celebrate friendship. I’ve learned that friendship is what makes a life.”
This is the reason she decided to spend her last days in Youngstown, and offer her gifts of music at this church. She found friendship with our church members, neighbors, and fellow musicians who checked on her multiple times a day all the way to her death. The second thing she taught me is each time I would visit her in her last days, I would ask her how she was that day, and her first sentence was the same: I’m here now. There was a clarity to her last days that is rare, and that was admirable. She could transition seamlessly between telling me she wanted me to read Ecclesiastes and John Donne at her memorial service, to appreciating the crocuses outside her window, and never forgetting, even when she was in great discomfort: “Please, tell me how you’re also doing.” Marcellene was a great friend.
She offered all of us her friendship, her disciplined and talented musicianship, her quick laugh, her pragmatism, her light heart, and appreciation for the way things are. She truly showed us how to live and how to die, living and dying in a celebration of friendship.
