GOOD AFTERNOON. I AM DON SHELTON, JUST ONE OF THE MANY FRIENDS OF DILL MURRELL. WELCOME TO THIS CELEBRATION OF DILL’S LIFE. DILL ASKED ME IF I WOULD DO THIS, I THINK BECAUSE HE WANTED IT TO BE A CELEBRATION AND KNEW I WOULDN’T LET IT GET “ALL SERIOUS AND MAUDLIN”,  AS HE PUT IT. AND IT WON’T BE. DILL WAS FUN AND THIS CELEBRATION IS GOING TO BE ABOUT THE JOY THAT DILL BROUGHT INTO ALL OF OUR LIVES.

FOR INSTANCE, DILL WAS ALL ABOUT THE HERE AND NOW. I WONDERED WHAT DILL WOULD WANT HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO BE SAYING AS WE LOOK INTO HIS CASKET? THAT HE WAS A GREAT SCIENTIST? THAT HE WAS A BRILLIANT MUSICIAN?  NO, IF DILL WERE HERE HE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR US SAY “LOOK, HE'S MOVING!!!"

DILL MURRELL LIVED HIS LIFE. HE DIDN’T GET HIS FAIR SHARE OF YEARS TO LIVE BUT HE LIVED EVERY MINUTE HE GOT HERE TO THE FULLEST. AND WE ALL ADMIRED – AND YES ENVIED – HIM FOR DOING THAT. HE CERTAINLY DIDN’T LIVE A CAREFUL OR CAUTIOUS OR EVEN A PRUDENT LIFE. MOST OF US WERE SHOCKED WHEN WE HEARD HE WAS DYING OF CANCER. NOT THAT HE WAS DYING, BUT THAT HE WAS DYING OF SOMETHING AS PLEBIAN AS CANCER. WE ALL EXPECTED HIM TO DIE OF SOMETHING EXOTIC LIKE “MONKEYPOX” OR “FARAWAY RIVER SLEEPING SICKNESS” OR AT LEAST A RARE ROLY-POLY SPICY-LIP VIRUS THAT ONLY AFFECTS BEARDED CAJUNS WHO PLAY THE SAXOPHONE BEAUTIFULLY.

DILL WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED. HE WAS A TRAINED SCIENTIST. BEFORE HE MADE ANY DECISION, HE WOULD GATHER AND ANALYZE THE FACTS AND THEN REACH A CONCLUSION. THE NIGHT BEFORE HE DIED HE SUMMONED ME TO HIS HOSPITAL BED AND WE TALKED. WHEN WE WERE ALONE, HE SAID HE WANTED TO GET SOME PROFESSSIONAL ADVICE “ABOUT THIS DYING STUFF”. THAT WAS DILL. SO I THOUGHT THE FIRST THING WE SHOULD DO, AS DILL WOULD, IS TO LAY OUT THE FACTS:

DILL WAS BORN ON DECEMBER 4, 1937 (THAT’S 66 YEARS AGO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE TRYING TO DO THE MATH). HE WAS BORN IN THE SMALL COUNTRY VILLAGE OF CHURCH POINT, LOUISIANA. HE WENT AWAY TO COLLEGE AT WHAT WAS THEN CALLED SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA INSTITUTE IN LAFAYETTE. (IT IS NOW THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE). HE STARTED OUT AS AN ENGINEERING MAJOR BUT MUSIC QUICKLY TOOK OVER HIS LIFE. MUSIC ALSO CHANGED HIS LIFE AND HIS CAREER PATH. DILL ALWAYS HAD AN EYE FOR THE GOOD LOOKING WOMEN AND IN THE COLLEGE MARCHING BAND HE SPIED A BEAUTIFUL FLUTE PLAYER. (HE LATER SAID IT WAS MARIE’S “PUCKER” THAT GOT HIM). THEY GOT MARRIED IN COLLEGE IN 1957. MARIE TOLD ME THE OTHER DAY THAT THEY WERE BOTH VIRGINS WHEN THEY GOT MARRIED AND I AM SURE MARIE WAS. DILL ALWAYS DID HAVE A WAY WITH WORDS.

DILL HAD CHANGED HIS MAJOR TO MUSIC BUT AFTER THE TWO VIRGINS HAD IMMACULATELY CONCEIVED FIRST SON MARK, THEN DAUGHTER CINDY, THEN DAUGHTER KAREN, THEY DECIDED HE NEEDED SOME MORE RELIABLE INCOME AND DILL GRADUATED WITH A B.S. IN PHYSICS.  IN COLLEGE, WHEN HE WASN’T GOING TO CLASS OR PRODUCING CHILDREN, DILL WORKED DURING THE WEEK FOR AN OIL COMPANY AND PLAYED IN BANDS ON THE WEEKENDS TO MAKE MONEY. AFTER GRADUATION HE WORKED FOR A YEAR AT WRIGHT-PATTERSON IN DAYTON, OHIO WHERE SON BRIAN WAS BORN. IN 1962 HE JOINED NASA IN HOUSTON TEXAS WHERE HE WORKED ON THE LUNAR LANDING PROGRAMS AS A PHYSICIST. HE OBVIOUSLY DID NOT WORK CONSTANTLY SINCE THE TIME DILL AND MARIE SPENT IN HOUSTON ALSO PRODUCED THEIR 5^TH AND 6^TH CHILDREN, STEVE AND SIMONE.

DILL WAS LURED AWAY FROM NASA BY A PRIVATE INDUSTRY JOB WITH ALLIS-CHALMERS IN MILWAUKEE. BUT DURING HIS SECOND YEAR THERE, ON HIS BIRTHDAY, THE COMPANY ABRUPTLY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS AND DILL CAME HOME ON HIS BIRTHDAY WITH A PINK SLIP. BUT THINGS HAD A WAY OF HAPPENING IN DILL’S LIFE. AS HE WAS SITTING HOME PONDERING HIS FATE, AN OLD FRIEND, GRAHAM HAGGY, CALLED TO WISH HIM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY. WHEN DILL TOLD HIM HE HAD JUST BEEN CANNED, GRAHAM SUGGESTED HE COME TO WORK WITH HIM AT THE EPA IN ANN ARBOR. THE REST, AS THEY SAY, IS HISTORY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OF US HERE – THANK YOU GRAHAM HAGGY!

DILL WORKED AT THE EPA FOR OVER 20 YEARS AFTER MOVING TO SALINE IN 1971. WHILE AT THE EPA HE ESTABLISHED A NATION-WIDE REPUTATION AS A BRILLIANT SCIENTIST WHO REALLY STRUGGLED TO GET OUT OF BED AND INTO WORK BEFORE 10 IN THE MORNING. MAYBE THE EPA DIDN’T KNOW WHY BUT WE DID – DILL WAS A GOOD PHYSICIST BUT HE WAS BETTER AT HIS REAL JOB – MUSIC! AND MUSICIANS DON’T FUNCTION WELL IN THE MORNING.

MARIE TOLD ME THAT DILL’S LOVES IN LIFE WERE MUSIC AND HIS FAMILY – IN THAT ORDER! BY THE TIME HE CAME TO SALINE HE HAD PLAYED WOODWINDS WITH THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER, THE JIMMY DORSEY ORCHESTRA AND SEVERAL PRO AND SEMI-PRO COMBOS.

IN 1972, HE FOUND A RAG-TAG GROUP OF KINDRED SPIRITS IN THE SALINE AREA PLAYERS AND BEGAN ON STAGE PLAYING CARNES IN THE SAP PRODUCTION OF “OKLAHOMA”. THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF DILL’S REAL CAREER - IN LOCAL THEATER. OVER THE LAST 32 YEARS DILL MURRELL ACTED IN MANY PRODUCTIONS (WHO CAN FORGET DILL AS THE DELICIOUSLY CONNIVING “FAGIN” IN “OLIVER”?) BUT HIS REAL FORTE WAS WITH THE MUSICIANS. HE STARTED DIRECTING WITH SAP IN “MUSIC MAN” AND WAS IN ALMOST EVERY SAP MUSICAL AFTER THAT. BUT HIS PROWESS AND HIS REPUTATION QUICKLY WENT BEYOND SALINE. HE WAS MUSICAL DIRECTOR OF 89 PRODUCTIONS IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AND NORTHERN OHIO, AND PLAYED IN ORCHESTRA PITS FOR 124 SHOWS.

MUSIC WAS TRULY HIS LIFE. I ASKED CINDY THE OTHER DAY IF DILL HAD A FAVORITE CHILD. SHE SAID “YES – MUSIC”.  HE WOULD SPREAD HIS SCORES ALL OVER THE KITCHEN TABLE, BECOME ENGROSSED AND JUST “TUNE OUT THE REST OF THE WORLD”. CINDY SAID THE KIDS WOULD JOKE ABOUT IT BY ASKING HIM IF THEY COULD “GO OUT IN THE STREET AND PLAY IN THE TRAFFIC” AND DAD WOULD NOT LOOK UP BUT JUST SAY “UH – SURE, GO AHEAD”. WHILE DILL MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE MOST ATTENTIVE OR TOLERANT FATHER, HIS CHILDREN DO KNOW THAT HE LOVED THEM DEARLY. SOME OF THEM HAVE FOLLOWED HIS EXAMPLE AND DILL AND MARIE HAVE SIX GRANDCHILDREN: ADAM AND MIKE EDWARDS, DAN AND LENNY DAVIS, BRENTON AND LEAH MURRELL, AND ONE GREAT-GRAND CHILD, JACOB EDWARDS.

WELL THOSE ARE THE FACTS. BUT THE FUN OF DILL’S LIFE IS NOT IN THE FACTS BUT IN THE STORIES AND THE WAY HE MADE US FEEL. EVERYONE HERE HAS THEIR OWN STORIES ABOUT DILL – AND NOW IS THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THEM. THE TRUTH IS THAT FUNERALS ARE ABOUT THE LIVING NOT THE DEAD. THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO THINK ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH DILL, OUR STORIES ABOUT DILL, THE THINGS WE DID TOGETHER WITH DILL, AND HOW WE FELT WHEN WE WERE WITH HIM.  

STEVE MURRELL – “AVE MARIA” 

DILL’S MUSIC WAS CERTAINLY NOT LIMITED TO MUSICAL THEATER. HE WAS A CRITICAL PIECE OF THE SALINE BIG BAND FOR MANY YEARS. I WANT TO ASK DAVE WOLTER IF HE WILL COME UP AND SHARE HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT DILL AND THE BIG BAND AND TELL A SPECIAL STORY ABOUT THE BIG BAND’S VISIT TO OUR SISTER CITY OF BRECON, WALES 

DAVE WOLTER – HYMN TO BRECON 

MANY OF YOU SENT ME EMAILS WITH STORIES AND THOUGHTS ABOUT DILL AND THEY ARE COLLECTED IN A FOLDER IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM.  WHAT GREAT STORIES THEY ARE. I AM GOING TO STEAL SOME OF YOUR EMAIL THOUGHTS IN A FEW OF MY COMMENTS ABOUT DILL. THANKS TO JOHN TARTAGLIA, I STARTED THINKING ABOUT ALL THE WORDS THAT MIGHT DESCRIBE DILL MURRELL. OBVIOUSLY “GOOD HUSBAND” AND “GOOD FATHER”. BUT THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER WORDS BECAUSE DILL WAS SO MANY OTHER THINGS: 

RENAISSANCE MAN

UNASSUMING

CAJUN - Dill's favorite Cajun foods  were  Community Coffee,  pork cracklings and Boudin, (that is pronounced  boo-dehn) and good Cajun Sausage

JAZZ MUSICIAN

IMPROVISER

CLARINETIST

SAXOPHONIST

FLUTIST

PERFECTIONIST – John Tartaglia said “In How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Dill was in the pit.  He was having trouble one of his horns, and he made a mistake in an exposed part.  Immediately afterwards he said "Aw Shit" just loud enough so that the orchestra and the first few rows of the audience clearly heard him, but we all remembered and loved him for it,….thinking, …..that's Dill.

ARRANGER – Gerry Hubbell said. “Dill's musical acumen was evident even in school. He was the only student who could transcribe and notate music just by hearing it on the recordings. Arranging was his "thing

COMPOSER

ORCHESTRATOR

CONDUCTOR

MUSICAL DIRECTOR

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

VOCAL DIRECTOR – One friend said, “Dill was able to get singers, actors and musicians to stretch their talents to create to a greater depth.”

TEACHER – Dill taught my son Greg to play the saxophone. He was also one of the people who convinced me that I could learn to sing on stage. That was no mean feat because in my forst SAP musical, in recognition of my singing abilities, they cast me as a mute!

NASA SCIENTIST

ENVIRONMENTAL EMISSIONS ENGINEER

PHYSICIST

THINKER

HAMBURGER LOVER

COMPUTER AFICIONADO

EMAIL CORRESPONDER & JOKESTER – One anonymous emailer said, “Dill was a mentor and every day I looked forward to opening my email because I knew I would have at least 10 new filthy, raunchy jokes waiting to be read.  I hope Marie will carry on his tradition.” 

FUN LOVER – Heidi Laura said “In my last performance with him ("Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"), during a particularly Middle Eastern-sounding solo we looked up from our music stands, and there was Dill, wearing a “fez”, playing in this Shriner-esque red cap, otherwise serious and professional.  Only Dill would “own” a fez.

OCCASIONAL EXPLOSIVE EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS

PUN MAKER

ORGANIZED

HARDWORKING

DEPENDABLE 

MOST OF ALL, DILL WAS A FRIEND AND INSPIRATION TO MANY.  HE COULD COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, CHILDREN, TEENAGERS, ADULTS AND SENIORS. 

GERRY HUBBELL ALSO CONCLUDED WITH, “AND DIDN'T HE LOOK LIKE EINSTEIN? I AM GLAD I DIDN'T SEE HIM SKINNY AT THE END. I LIKE THE "ROUND" MEMORY.” 

AT THE VISITATION YESTERDAY MANY PEOPLE WERE REMINISCING ABOUT DILL AND AFTER WE LEFT MY WIFE MARJORIE SAID, “YOU KNOW, EVERY PERSON THAT I TALKED TO HERE THINKS THAT THEY HAD A SPECIAL, PERSONAL AND UNIQUELY CLOSE FRIENDSHIP WITH DILL – WHAT AN AMAZING PERSON WHO COULD MAKE US ALL FEEL THAT WAY!”

DILL – WHEN YOU WERE ALIVE YOU ENJOYED ALL OF YOUR LIFE  - AND WE ENJOYED BEING WITH YOU AS YOU LIVED IT. WE’LL MISS YOU.

I THOUGHT WE SHOULD CONCLUDE THIS CELEBRATION OF DILL’S LIFE IN A WAY THAT DILL WOULD MOST UNDERSTAND APPRECIATE. PLEASE JOIN ME AND GIVE DILL MURRELL HIS LAST STANDING OVATION.