An Extraordinary Life: ‘He lived the life most people don’t get to live’

“Music is of the better things in life and I have great admiration for anyone who is interested in music.”

So said Ted Lega of Joliet in a 2002 Herald-News story. Lega became just the third director of bands at Joliet Central High School in 1969 but his appointment was not the first time he’d directed at the school.

He had also served as student director and first clarinet in the band by the time he’d graduated in 1962, according to the Joliet Township High School District 204 website. Lega died Monday at the age of 77.

Mike Fiske, director of music for the Joliet American Legion Band, became director of bands at Joliet Central following Lega’s retirement in 2002. Fiske himself retired in 2016. Fiske called Lega “my teacher, my mentor and my dear friend” and said he was “truly blessed to have him in my life.”

“There really was no one like him,” Fiske said in a Facebook message. “When it came to music, he was able to find the beauty in a melody and bring that out of his students with artistry that was far beyond their years ... The confidence that he had in me will always be cherished.”

Lega’s father, also Ted Lega (deceased), was an accomplished alto saxophonist who had toured with other orchestras until he began his own in 1958. Lega, who was born in 1943, carried the music stands when his father set up for performances at venues such as Melody Mill in Willowbrook and the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

“The orchestra was busy 50 weeks a year, playing four to five days a week,” Lega said in the 2002 Herald-News story. “My mother would take me to places like Lake Geneva when my father would be up there playing. That was our vacation.”

Lega began piano lessons in third grade and clarinet lessons in the fourth grade and never stopped studying music. He played with the Chicago Civic Orchestra (the training orchestra for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) during his college years. He graduated with a degree in music education in 1967 from the Chicago Musical College, the 2002 Herald-News story said.

Two years later, Lega became director of bands at Joliet Central, a position he held for 33 years. Under Lega’s direction, the bands earned the honor band award at the University of Illinois Superstate Band Festival 14 times and were named grand champions 11 times at Illinois State University and twice at the Opryland Music Festival, according to the JTHS website.

Don Stinson, current director of bands at Joliet Central, was a band student under Lega’s direction during Lega’s last four years of teaching.

“To say that I’ll miss Mr. Lega is an understatement,” Stinson said in a Facebook message. “Here was a man that did so much for our city and did it with grace and humility. He was a role model for students and teachers everywhere. There’s a lot of talk about the ‘legacy’ of the Joliet Central Bands. Ted Lega was and is that legacy. When I took over the program in 2016, he was the first in line to come help whenever he could. I’m so glad I had him as a teacher, mentor, and friend.”

Lega took over the Teddy Lee Orchestra in 1990 when his father became ill, with his father providing directions for arranging orchestra music from his hospital bed, Lega said in the 2002 story. Lega then took the Teddy Lee Orchestra to Chicagoland’s major ballrooms, Navy Pier, Taste of Chicago, Empress Casino and the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, using Lega’s father’s arrangements, Lega said in the 2002 story. The orchestra released its first CD in 2002.

A 2005 Herald-News story said Lega had become the director of an independent, 64-member community youth band of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. That band competed in the Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festival in 2005, which was sponsored by the University of Illinois.

Lega’s daughter Stephanie Perella of Joliet, said her father was a fun-loving dad who often took her for long rides in the Cadillac with no particular destination in mind, listening to music all the way.

“I was probably the only kid in grade school who knew all the music of the swing era,” Perella said.

Perella grew up listening to symphonies and “really focused music” with her father and learning from him “how important it was to have a really beautiful melody,” she said.

She recalled sitting backstage as a child when the Joliet Central bands played, how he taught her son JT to play the saxophone, his dry sense of humor and how she “just always wanted to make him proud.”

“It’s a great loss. He impacted so many lives,” Perella said. “He lived the life most people don’t get to live, doing exactly what he loved. It wasn’t a hobby; it was his career, and I think that’s just remarkable. I never heard my dad complain about going to work. He loved what he did.”

Marsha Lega of Joliet, Ted’s wife, said she met Ted when he was 19 and she was 17. She loved his good looks and “arty” black turtleneck sweaters. Although Ted was musical and Marsha made jewelry and sculpture, she found a loyal spouse in whom she could always depend, Marsha said.

“He was a gentle person,” Marsha said. “If he caught a fly, he’d open the door and let him out.”

About two weeks ago, Fiske and Stinson arranged for approximately 25 musicians to play for Lega, who was in hospice care at the time, Marsha said. Selections included the “March of the Steelmen,” which is the Joliet Central traditional march.

“It was beautiful,” Marsha said.

Ted Lega of Darien and the executive producer of the television show “Garage Squad,” is proud of having been a third generation Joliet Central Band member. Ted said his grandfather studied under the first band director, Archie Raymond McAllister; Lega studied under the second, Bruce H. Houseknecht; and Ted studied under Lega.

He recalled his father’s hectic, driven schedule.

“He would come home from school at 4 o’clock, lie down and take a nap for an hour, get up, eat a quick dinner and go right back to the high school for the jazz band or orchestra ensemble,” Ted said. “Or he’d come home late because he was giving kids private lessons who could not afford private lessons.”

Weekends were for the family, Ted said. And when Lega retired, Lega’s dog Roscoe became a therapy dog, so that even in retirement, Lega still served, Ted said.

But although Lega’s musical legacy will endure — although Lega never considered himself a “legend,” Ted said — Lega’s real legacy is his servant leadership and his kindness toward others. Lega corrected students with humor and always pushed them to achieve their very best in their musical abliities, he added.

“His moral compass was straight,” Ted said. “The man was never wrong. This isn’t what you always want in your parents; you want them to be wrong sometimes. But he wasn’t wrong about people, about life. The way he thought about things — he never spoke an ill word about anybody that I can remember.”

• To feature someone in “An Extraordinary Life,” contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.

According to the JTHS website, Lega was

· recognized as the Outstanding Chicagoland Music Educator in 1984

· elected to the American Bandmasters Association in 1995

· awarded St. Genesius Award from Lewis University in Romeoville for Lega’s “dedication and achievement as music educator, band director and orchestra leader,” the website said.

· given the Lifetime Achievement Award in memory of John Paynter, director of bands at Northwestern University.

· awarded honorary Doctor of Music from Vandercook College

· honored with the Leonardo Da Vinci Award for performing arts from Order of Sons of Italy in America.