Hi MMDers,  This is Ann Donoghue, Wally's daughter.  I thought some of
you might remember Dad.  It's been many years since he was an active
reproducing piano and music box restorer, but he was an avid follower
of MMD, a long-time member of MBSI and AMICA, and enjoyed this crowd
very much.  He passed away July 17th, after a battle with ALS.

One of the first companies he established, in the early 1960's, was
Plymouth Piano and Music Box Company.  Dad somehow stumbled upon Harvey
Roehl's book and since he was already a piano player and lover, the
mechanical aspects of a reproducing piano intrigued his engineering
mind greatly.  He appreciated Ampicos and Duo-Arts the most and he
looked for and picked up pianos that no one wanted, restoring them and
selling them.

He developed relationships with local piano tuners and asked them to
tell him about any reproducing pianos they came across.  He frequently
found pianos just prior to them heading to the garbage heap.  I can
remember when I was a kid there were five grand pianos in the living
room and one in the bedroom!  These included pianos that had signatures
of Myra Hess and Percy Grainger on the harp.

Dad and Larry Givens were fast friends.  They met in college when
Larry spotted Dad's Model T (his daily driver) and left a note on the
windshield.  They shared many projects together and often bought and
sold mechanical instruments from each other.  My first Knabe Ampico
came from Larry (Ken Long has it now).

Prior to closing down his business in the 1990s he made sure everyone
in the family had a reproducing piano.  The family had a Mason and
Hamlin, two Knabes and a Steinway (the Percy Grainger)!  I say "had"
because a couple of them have since been switched out for other
reproducing pianos, and the Grainger Steinway went to Cranker's
Collection of Mechanical Marvels.

Many friends have found use for the various parts left over after the
business closed and he delighted in hearing about others' projects and
how they put the parts to use!  (And there are still parts in the
shop!)

My folks have a home filled with music boxes of all kinds, the Mason &
Hamlin and clocks.  Us kids enjoy playing them whenever we can.  We are
very grateful for the love of (mechanical) music that they instilled in
us, and the pianos we all have.

I've attached a link to his obituary and information about the
remembrance gathering we are having.

http://www.vermeulenfh.com/obituaries/Wallace-Donoghue/ 

Ann Donoghue
ardonoghue@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]