Harry Dean Boward
1946
-
Dean Boward, an organist, saxophonist, and conductor, taught
music in four Seventh-day Adventist academies in a career that spanned forty
years. Even though he kept a grueling schedule during those years, he retained his
enthusiasm for teaching music when he retired.
Dean was born and raised in
Hagerstown, Maryland, the only child of Harry Junior and Helen Kline Boward. Although his parents were not musicians, they
supported his study in music and when they noted his interest in piano after he
started lessons at age eleven, surprised him with a gift of a used grand piano
he had found and liked.
He learned to play the
saxophone at Mt. Aetna Academy, now Highland View Academy. His academy music
teacher, Betty Martin, now McPeck, became an
important person in his musical development, a continuing source of inspiration
and encouragement, and a lifelong friend and mentor.
After graduating from MAA in
1964, he enrolled at Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist University,
initially registering as an elementary education major. By the end of two years
and some uncertainty about what he wanted to do, he changed his major to music,
having been encouraged to do so by music teachers at the college and by Martin,
his academy teacher.
Paul Hill and Adelle Haughey, later Claypool,
inspired him in the choral and instrumental areas, respectively, as he
completed a B.S. in music education. After graduating from CUC in 1971 with
organ as his performance area and Van D. Knauss as
his teacher, he began his teaching career at Pine Tree Junior Academy in Maine.
While pursuing his degree at
CUC, he had met and married Dorothy Jean Anderson in 1969. Although a nurse by
training, she was an accomplished pianist who had been raised in a musical
family. Her father, Arvid Anderson, was a pianist who
had earlier taught at Broadview College, now Academy, and later maintained a
private studio.
After two years at PTJA, the Bowards moved to Hinsdale Junior Academy in Illinois, where
he taught music for the next six years. During his time at HJA, he completed an
M.Mus. in music education at Andrews University in
1978, with organ and saxophone as performance emphases.
In 1979, Boward
accepted a position at Broadview Academy in Illinois, where he taught for the
next twelve years. During this time, Dorothy worked as the school nurse and
taught piano for eight years. While there, he received the Zapara
Excellence in Teaching Award in 1989, and both of them were honored with a BVA
yearbook dedication in 1991:
No
6:45 AM band, no visits to the sick, no organist for church, no
piano teacher - life would certainly be different at Broadview without Mr. and
Mrs. Boward. For years we have seen your talent,
energy, and genuine concern for us at work. Now it's our turn to take note of
you and dedicate our effort in the form of this book.
That year, he joined the
faculty at Andrews Academy, where he was supervising instructor for music
activity. In his last six years there as he approached retirement he directed
four choirs and the band, orchestra, and handbell
ensemble, activities that involved over fifty percent of the student body. When
he retired, the school hired two teachers to cover the program he had developed
at the academy and his work at the affiliated elementary school.
Boward started serving as a minister of
music in churches at age seventeen, directing choirs as well as playing the
organ. This service has been continuous, except for two years while at
Broadview Academy, and primarily in the Lutheran church.
The Bowards
have two sons, Michael and Mark, who studied music with their father. Mark
continues to be active as an amateur musician.
ds/2011
Sources:
Interviews with Dean Boward, March and April 2011;
Andrews Academy website; Charles C. Case, "Excellence in Teaching
Awards," Lake Union Herald, August 1989, 6; Broadview Academy 1991
yearbook, Encore.