Richard O’Donnell passed away on January 15. O’Donnell was vice president of Yamaha Corporation of America at a very historic time in the company’s growth and development during the 1970s. He worked on several projects including managing the operations for the Everett Piano Plant in Michigan, which Yamaha purchased to expand its piano manufacturing. O’Donnell later oversaw the Georgia manufacturing plants for Yamaha and witnessed first-hand the growth of the company within the American market. O’Donnell was on hand at the time of the release of the DX7 in the early 1980s, which was pivotal in leading Yamaha to become one of the industry’s leaders in the field of MIDI-driven gear. Bob See founded See Factor, a pioneering and innovative pro-lighting and pro-sound service. See’s career began when Bill Graham opened up the Fillmore East in the late 1960s. He cut his teeth in the lighting field as it was new to everyone. Many of the methods for lighting he created in those early days have become standards within the industry. Over the years, See and his team worked with top musicians and performers around the world and expanded their services to include pro-sound in the early 1980s. Bob See passed away on February 10. To view a clip from his 2010 NAMM Oral History interview, go to www.namm.org/library/oral-history/robert-see In February, NAMM’s Dan Del Fiorentino sent the following regarding the passing of Fritz Kollitz, founder of Fritz Kollitz Fine Tone Woods: Without a doubt, one of my favorite components of an interview is gathering in-depth details of a given topic from a passionate expert of the various segments of our industry. Never was there such a profound example of this than when I interviewed Fritz Kollitz! What clearly came through within his interview was his passion. He made the subject of tonewood compelling and interesting because of his knowledge and because he clearly cared about providing the best products possible for his customers. Just listening to him explain the process of drying wood for musical instruments becomes of interest because of his dedication to the topic. And he was a very kind person who supported his son, Oliver, when he turned the company over to retire. He remained in a supportive role until his passing on February 11. Last month at the NAMM Show, his son was presented the Milestone Award to honor his father and the company. Bill Tregoe passed away on February 25. Throughout his 35- year career as a sales rep for CG Conn and later King Musical Instruments, Tregoe drove an estimated 1,300,000-plus miles. As a trumpet student, Bill took lessons at a Conn Music Store and later became a band director, serving schools mostly in Texas and Florida from 1949 until he was hired by Conn in 1962. We recently received the following message from NAMM’s Dan Del Fiorentino: At the time of DW Caffey’s NAMM Oral History interview in 2012, he had been tuning pianos for just over 72 years! This fact is made all the more amazing considering DW was blind. He was very young when he found himself enamored with the piano. In 1940, when he was just fifteen years old, DW taught himself how to tune pianos. He read a book and asked an old time tuner a few questions and was soon hired by a music store. He worked for several piano stores in Mississippi during his long career including Allegrezza Pianos in Ridgeland, where he was interviewed. He never let his blindness limit him and in fact he proudly taught others his craft at the Mississippi School for the Blind for over 32 years. DW passed away in a Jackson, Mississippi area hospice on January 24.