Stan Marlow received a $5 gift that would change his life forever.

In the spring of 1947, Stanley Marlow came down with rheumatic fever. Despite being a tough, 13-year-old farm boy, the inflammatory disease kept Stan bedridden for weeks. While he was recuperating at home, a teacher at Stan’s school paid him a visit. Mr. Klocksiem was the band director at the school in Ogden, Iowa. Mr. Klocksiem brought an old coronet oout to the farm with him. He thought the musical instrument would help the young man’s recovery.

Mr. Klocksiem was not everyone’s favorite teacher. As a military veteran, Mr. Klocksiem thrived on discipline and ran his classes with authority. He once physically threw a misbehaving student out of band rehearsal. Yet here he was, standing in the Marlow home, presenting Stan with a musical instrument. Despite having a life-long distain for authority, Stan was deeply impressed by the teacher’s thoughtfulness.

Though the old coronet was battered and the valves leaked air, Stan was thrilled. His mother Anna gave Mr. Klocksiem $5 for the instrument, tapping into her egg money to do so.

Stan took to the coronet immediately. Playing the instrument strengthened his lungs, and quickly he was back to health. He practiced whenever he wasn’t doing chores.

That summer, Stan took music lessons in Ogden, about 4 miles from the Marlow farm. He rode his “Doodlebug” motor scooter to town and back, balancing his coronet case on the running board.

One day on his way home, the sky turned dark and the winds grew wild. Stan saw the fast-moving wall cloud. He gunned the engine and the Briggs & Stratton roared, as lightning flashed and thunder rolled. But he was still miles from home, and he knew he wasn’t going to make it before the storm hit. Thinking quickly, he steered the scooter into a neighbor’s farmyard, and took shelter in an old corn crib. He made it just in time. After the storm, he motored his way safely home.

Music became Stan’s creative escape from his tedious, work-filled farm life. He became an outstanding musician. The Marlow family moved to a farm southwest of Boxholm, Iowa, but Stan kept playing. After graduating from high school, Stan went to Drake University.

He had the opportunity to tour with the legendary Stan Kenton Orchestra, but decided to bow out when his father suffered an accident on the farm. He left Drake to help his family while his dad recovered. But he made his way back to Des Moines as soon as he could.

He earned a degree in music from Drake, and like Mr. Klocksiem, became a high school band director himself. Later, he went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa. That $5 coronet changed his life.

I painted Shelter From The Storm, 1947 for my dad, to commemorate that tumultuous, life changing summer nearly 75 years ago. Though he no longer has the chops to play coronet, Stan has been playing keyboard at church for many years, living the belief that you should make music all of your life. Happy 88th birthday, dad!