My sincere condolences to the Magee family. As the bass trombone player for Brass Unlimited, I was naturally saddened, when my sister, Susan, told me of the passing of Mr. Magee. Since I’m currently located in California (albeit several hundred miles north of MacArthur Park), I’ll need to let Susan represent the family this week. I first met Mr. Magee when I was a 4th grader attending Rahway Summer Band school, where he taught me how to make a sound through a trombone mouthpiece, that came out of the trombone bell sounding more-or-less like a musical note. Over the next 10 years, I played in various concert bands and stage bands that he directed. One of the highlights of each year was always the spring musical. He directed Finnian’s Rainbow, when I was in 9th grade, and joined us in the RHS pit band for Bye-Bye Birdy, The Music Man, and Mame. The final show that I saw him direct the music for was Shenandoah at the Union County Center, by which time my sister was his lead French Horn player. But of course the pinnacle for many of us was always Brass Unlimited. I continued playing, as the oldest member of this group (except for him, of course), until I was a junior in college. Aside from the competitive performances, we toured the local area and took a couple of road trips to his native areas in Pennsylvania. On reflecting on Mr. Magee’s influence on me, I realize now that the real take-home message that he taught me was to commit to goals that you are passionate about, and to share that passion with others. My sister’s career has remained in music, while mine has diverged into science. But in his own way, Mr. Magee taught us that it’s what you do for others that counts. Many of Mr. Magee’s greatest achievements were the things that he did to add music and spirit to everyone’s life, not because it was his job, but simply because he could. When our father, James Loughlin (band booster emeritus, and WWII vet) passed away several years ago, he declined to have Taps played at his grave-side service. We respected his wishes, of course. But I realize now that he was waiting for a much more upbeat trumpet medley in heaven.