I interviewed the Schobers back in June '23, and am just now wrapping up all the info and editing for this video. What makes a musician a musician? What makes a musician tick? I wanted to talk to Mr. Schober about his being a Fine Arts Director for 30 years. My first memory of him was when he dropped by our choir class almost 50 years ago at MHS. He was friends with our director, Mr. Danny Hart, and watched the class a little while when Mr. Hart was out on choir business. Mr. Schober talked very respectfully about Danny Hart, and helped us realize that Mr. Hart was not only a good choir director, but was also known in musical circles. He said that Mr. Hart could pick his own job in any Texas University's choir program, but he chose to stay at the high school level. I suppose it was because his family was being raised in Irving and he didn't want to cause disruptions.
A few years later I was singing with Mr. Schober when we were both in Neil Davidson's choir at Plymouth Park Baptist Church, another good director. Fast-forward 45+ years and I see Mr. & Mrs. Schober singing at my 95-year old neighbor's funeral, since he, Mr. John Stinson, had been a founding member of 'The Silvertones', Irving's civic choir. At the funeral Mr. Schober invited others to join 'The Silvertones', as its membership had been devastated by Covid. I was retired by then, and had missed being in a choir; I signed-up and have Mr. & Mrs. Schober to thank for that.
As a result of being in 'The Silvertones' I have joined the church they practice at, Oak View Baptist, and since then have been recruited to sing in the Sunday morning choir as well. My singing days are back again, and I'm finding myself being kept busy with church obligations and activities; so much for a quiet retirement.
Mr. Schober spent 30 years as Irving ISD's Fine Art Director, and I had many questions to pepper him with. He knows a lot of teachers who I knew while being a student. Mrs. Schober is in the interview as well because I figured she would know specifics and details about Mr. Schober's career, but ... I was surprised to find out from this interview that she is just as much the musician as he is, and even later I found out she was also the Mrs. Mature Irving winner of 2000.
I interviewed both the Schobers in one day, and later they wished they had spoken more about their family. I didn't probe them too much on this subject because I was more interested in the career, and also I had found out that 1 of their 2 children had passed away since I knew them many years ago, and I didn't want to go stirring that up for them. Anyhow, they wrote down family information for me, and I'm going to include it here, word-for-word, in the notes section below.
This from Mr. Schober: "Carol and I have been blessed by God with a wonderful marriage for 66 years. Of all the things we thank God for is our wonderful family. We have had two children, David Alan Schober, who passed away from a blood disorder. David married Carla Riddle and they had three children: Justin, Michael and Elizabeth Schober. Justin and his wife, Suzana, have one daugher, Liliana. Michael and his wife Paige have a son, Lawson, named for his grandfather. Elizabeth married Jay Kinard and they have 2 children, Jones and Claire Kinard. Our daughter, Lynn Schober, now Lynn Andrews, married Sammy Andrews and they have two daughters, Jennifer and Samantha Andrews. Jennifer married Tony Cimaglia and they have twins, Lexy and Lacy, and Logan. Samantha married Taylor Cross and they have three children, Bailey, Brooke and Blake."
Some of the interview wound up on the cutting room floor. We discussed the 'Recorder' instrument which was passed-out to 6th graders so they could experience what it was like to play in an ensemble, a year before they could choose whether or not to be in the Band Program. I remembered my instrument from back in '68. The words I was looking for to describe the concerts Mrs. Schober would attend with her husband was 'Half-Time Shows'. There could be as many as 3 times a week, if the scheduling was just right. We had 3 high schools in Irving at that time but only one school stadium, next to the present-day Bowie Jr. High. Mr. Schober said they always left after the half-time show.
Link to the movie found on UA-cam, the 1964 version of 'The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald'. You might have to Copy & Paste the following: ua-cam.com/video/3ThSEbRW1_Y/v-deo.html
Link to the UA-cam video of Mr. Schober leading the Nimitz High School Alma Mater, you also might have to Copy & Paste: ua-cam.com/video/gGhzoqbkOsY/v-deo.html
The photo of Hank Thompson is in the public domain, since it's over 50 years old (1966).
The photo of children singing in the Irving Boy's Choir was taken over 40 years ago, and they're grown men now. The music 'Stars and Stripes Forever' comes from the UA-cam musical files for use in UA-cam Videos.