Through her music career spanning 70 years, Sharon Ingram has impacted thousands of lives. Now, Wichitans are invited to join in celebrating her 90th birthday with a card and/or special blessing.
Cards can be sent to Ingram at 10665 W. 13th St. N, #337, Wichita, KS 67212.
Friends have planned a special celebration for Ingram on Thurs., Aug. 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Holiday Grasslands Estates Activity Room, 10665 W. 13th St., Wichit
For those who don’t know this legend and for those who may have encountered her but know little about her rich legacy, we’re sharing a story from our archives about Ingram. This story, which ran in 2007, is one of several we’ve done on this “feisty” and loving lady.
Sharon Ingram: Teaching Lessons and Touching Lives Through Music
By Bonita Gooch
The Community Voice
Sharon Orie Ingram can’t begin to calculate the number of lives she’s positively impacted. There are the students she touched during 33 years as a teacher in the Wichita Public Schools, the private voice, piano and organ students she’s worked with across 66 years, and the Butler County Community College students she’s taught during the past 13 years.
Then, there’s the singers she’s directed in choirs, the students she’s instructed at Gospel Music Workshop of America national conventions, as well as individuals who’ve enjoyed her music at the thousands of concerts, recitals, wedding, funerals, church services and programs where either she or her students have performed. Thousands, ten –thousands or even millions have come under the influence of Ingram and most of them can say, their relationships with her has positively impacted them in some way.
It’s this broad breadth of influence that led a group of gospel music enthusiastS and Sharon Ingram fans to schedule an appreciation service in her honor on Sat., May 23, 6 p.m. at Dellrose United Methodist Church. “She’s done so much for so many,” said Roy Hatcher, one of the event organizers, “ we decided it was time to celebrate her and all she’s done.”
So, you may not know Ingram, but it’s hard for her to go anywhere that she doesn’t run into a former student. In restaurants, at churches, in nursing homes and on the streets, she says she still runs into students who remember her.
OTHER INGRAM STORIES FROM OUR ARCHIVES:
Sharon Ingram: Music Teacher Wants to Retire But Can’t Find a Full Measure Rest
NEWPAC is Reviving Arts Classes in Northeast Wichita
Those who know her, can’t help but smile about an Ingram story of their own. The stories usually involve Ingram’s no-nonsense approach, expectation that a job be done well and her big caring heart. Even though Ingram doesn’t have any kids of her own, she’s a lot like a mom. Demanding, tough, but you always know she has your best interest at heart.
Former students regularly let her know how much they appreciate her efforts.
“When they begin to raise children then they see the value in having someone stick with them and make them do things that are right,” Ingram says.
She’s always worked two to three jobs: school teacher, pianist or choir director along with running her private studio La Centre de Musique, located at 2030 E. 9th St., on the top floor of her childhood home.
At 73, although she’s retired from the public school system, she still works every day. She teaches a Music Appreciation class at Butler County Community College and carries at least a part-time load of private students at her Music Center.
I don’t know how long I’m going to keep going,” says Ingram. But as long as she can keep climbing the stairs to her studio, she says she’ll probably keep teaching. She’ll probably keep impacting the lives of another generation and if she does, they’ll be better for it.
I was a Music Appreciation student (although my major was nursing) who studied under Mrs. Ingram at BCCC Andover around 2000. She was a tough, but always fair instructor. I learned a lot in my short time with her. I’ve often wondered if she was still teaching, and as long as she finds joy in the work it brings me happiness to see her still sharing her craft.