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EDDIE OYER
CLASS OF 1947

Usually an institution is made of brick and stone, such as Northeast High School but on rare occasions they can be made of skin and bone, and such is the case with Eddie Oyer.

Eddie grew up in Northeast and has lived here all of his life. He started playing the piano at age 3 and by the time he was 12, he got his union card. He was so talented that at 15 years old, he was playing evenings at many of the downtown hotels, among them, the Continental, the President and the Bellivere. But that was at night. In the day, he worked at his sister’s dance studio, playing piano for the dance classes. And it was at that studio that the institution of Eddie Oyer began.

When Eddie’s sister decided to leave the studio in 1954 to raise her family, Eddie took it over. So if you grew up in Northeast anytime from 1954 on, and you wanted to learn music or how to dance, chances are, you would have been taught by Eddie Oyer. Over the years he has taught both music and dance to 1,000’s of hopeful musician’s and dancers. Some of his musical students went on to music careers – including playing with Lawrence Welk’s orchestra.

While Eddie started his musical career at the tender age of 3(and there are pictures of him dancing as young as 4), he attributes much of his formal training to a music teacher at Northeast High School, Nevin Wasson. Mr. Wasson recognized talent when he saw it and soon had Eddie playing in school shows such as the Viking Varieties. Mr. Wasson taught Eddie the importance of learning how to play a variety of music and that was a lesson that Eddie carried with him throughout his life, playing and teaching others to play classical, jazz, rock, country & western and religious music. His belief was that if you specialized in a style or type of music and that music went out of fashion, so did your career.

At 18, Eddie began playing around the country and his fast paced style earned him the nickname “The Keyboard Atom-Splitter”. But he didn’t spend his entire time playing piano. He felt the call of the military and joined the army as a combat engineer. However, when you have true talent, it drives your life and he ended up in the music part of the military. He also took time off from music to marry his wife Patty and they became leaders in the Northeast community. He played piano at Budd Park Christian Church and taught Sunday school there. He was honored by the church in 2005 with an “Eddie Oyer Day”. He volunteered at Glennon Nursing home and entertained the residents with his vast repertoire, playing whatever the residents requested, and usually without sheet music. That’s how you can do it when you’ve been playing all your life.

In 2007, after 53 years of teaching both the young and the young at heart - Eddie closed his studio. But closing the studio was not the end of his contribution. He continued his activities in the community until his health required him to stop.

This piece was started by talking about what an institution is made of. The definition of institution is "an organization, establishment, foundation, society, or the like, devoted to the promotion of a particular cause or program, especially one of a public, educational, or charitable character". Eddie's love of music and his devotion to sharing that love with the 1,000's of pupils that he taught over the years, along with his unfailing commitment to the community, has earned him the right to be called an "institution".