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OBITUARIES
Velma Duvall
 Velma
R. Duvall died of heart failure in Springfield Community Hospital on Wednesday
morning, July 30. She was 90.
Velma was born on Nov. 4, 1917, in Imogene, Minn. Adopted at the age of
one by Eva and Tom Tucker, Velma grew up the only girl in a family of
five children. The family moved to Sioux Falls where Velma began piano
lessons while in grade school. In high school she studied with Sister
Marselin at the Columbus College Catholic School for Girls. When money
was too tight for lessons during the Depression, Sister Marselin came
to the house and said Velma was very talented and she had to continue
teaching her, money or no money! Velma began teaching piano to neighborhood
children when she was in junior high school.
The family moved to Lynn Haven, Fla., where Velma graduated from Panama
City High School in three years. She attended the College Conservatory
of Music at the University of Cincinnati. She was a four-year scholarship
student of Severin Eisenberger. He wanted her to become a concert pianist,
but she wanted a family life, not a life of touring. In 1940 she graduated
with a bachelor’s degree in music education with a double major
in music and English.
During her college years she became close friends with Ernest Haswell
and his wife, Leona. Through Leona she was introduced to the Smoky Mountains,
which she always loved.
Immediately after World War II she worked for the Travelers Aid Society
at Union Station in Cincinnati, where she witnessed thousands of soldiers
passing through on their way home. During this time she also directed
the Proctor & Gamble Glee Club. Her first public school job was teaching
music for the Mt. Healthy schools, where Matthew Duvall was the school
superintendent. It was here where she met the boss’s son, Marin
Duvall, a history teacher, and fell in love. Velma and Marin were married
Oct. 24, 1945. After the war, Marin was transferred to Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base, and in 1951 the couple found housing in a two-family house
in Yellow Springs with another sculptor, Amos Mazzolini and his wife,
Berthe.
With two small children, Barbara and Debbie, Velma expected to lead the
life of a stay-at-home mother and housewife. However, shortly after arriving
in Yellow Springs, she received a call from Walter Anderson, chair of
the music department at Antioch College, asking her to take on some younger
piano students. This led to years of teaching hundreds of Yellow Springs
students until her retirement at age 75.
In 1955, she and Marin built a house at 210 Allen Street, where she lived
until moving into Friends Care Center Assisted Living in 2002.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday
school and served as both a deacon and elder. As long as she was able,
she visited shut-ins with flowers and food and good cheer. She could play
piano by ear and enthusiastically accompanied many spontaneous singing
gatherings. She loved to sew and made crafts for many church bazaars,
as well as clothing and toys for her daughters. She loved the arts, especially
painting and sculpture, besides music. She loved nature, especially birds,
and was an avid gardener.
Over the years she was a member of the Yellow Springs Senior Citizens,
Glen Helen Association and a supporter of Chamber Music Yellow Springs.
More than anything, she loved people. Everyone who enters Friends Care
Assisted Living will miss seeing her sitting at the door, where she loved
to see everyone coming and going.
Velma was preceded in death by her husband, Marin; her parents, Eva and
Tom Tucker; and two brothers, Paul and Michael Tucker.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and David Oldham
of Brooklyn, N.Y.; her daughter, Deborah Duvall of Yellow Springs; her
brother and sister-in-law, Clem and Ruth Tucker of Sioux Falls, S.D.;
her sister-in-law, Marilee Duvall Harris, Oxford, Ohio; two half-brothers,
Gene Bullard of California, and Richard Bullard of Texas, and nieces,
nephews and cousins. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations
be made to the Glen Helen Association, 405 Corry Street, Yellow Springs,
Ohio. A memorial service will be announced at a future date. Private interment
will take place at the Duvall family plot in Arlington Cemetery, Mt. Healthy,
Ohio.
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