Teacher fondly remembered

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Longtime Grand Island strings and orchestra teacher Larry Maupin, who died Tuesday at age 67 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, was remembered by colleagues as someone who touched thousands of lives.

“Larry has had several of his students go on to play professionally,” said Christa Speed, strings and orchestra teacher in the Grand Island Public Schools. “Many of his students have gone on to play in college.

“Because of Larry, thousands of students have developed a lifetime love of music.”

Maupin was one of two people inducted into the inaugural class of legendary educators who have worked for the Grand Island Public Schools.

Superintendent Steve Joel said Maupin was a big part of establishing the tradition of excellence in the fine arts at Grand Island Senior High School. Maupin retired from the district in 2003.

Senior High Principal Kent Mann said Maupin “was a pillar of the orchestra community.”

Speed said Maupin established the Tri-City Youth Symphony, which drew players from far beyond the immediate central Nebraska area, occasionally from as far away as North Platte.

For many years, Maupin served as the concertmaster of the Hastings Symphony Orchestra, where for the past several years he played principal second violin.

As a teacher, Maupin had high expectations for his students and a sense of humor he shared with them, Speed said.

He “was able to work with a beginning violin player and also work with a high school student playing a Mendelssohn violin concerto,” Speed said.

Maupin also made a tradition of gathering alumni to play Christmas music at the end of the first semester.

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