Column: Music Memories, Ron Nall

Ron Nall was a band director in Cape Girardeau Public Schools from 1979 through 1998. During his 32-year career in public school music education and 26-year stint as the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band director, he touched the lives of thousands of kids and families. I was fortunate to teach with him from 1991 until he retired from Cape Central in 1998. Ron Nall likes people, and people like Ron Nall.

Ron Nall isn’t my uncle. I started calling him “Uncle Ron” many years ago after I heard someone refer to his brother, Dennis — a retired choir director — as “Uncle Denny.”

His easy-going manner and genuine love for music was infectious for young people. One of his best attributes was to listen to a complex issue and offer a solution with only a few words.

Nall was born in Poplar Bluff, Mo., in 1943. During his childhood, he took piano lessons and sang in the choir at First Christian Church.

After an unsuccessful attempt with clarinet in beginning band, he dropped out of the band program. A few years later in high school, his best friend, Joe Smith, who happened to be the band director’s son, convinced Nall to join the Poplar Bluff High School Marching Band.

The band director (also Joe Smith), assigned Nall to the tuba and gave him a total of two lessons before marching band camp that summer.

According to Nall, “Since I’d already had piano, I knew how to read music, and since I sang at church, I had an idea how things should sound. I thought it was easy for everybody!”

Nall enjoyed being a part of the band, and by his sophomore year, he decided he wanted be a band director.

After high school, Nall attended then-Southeast Missouri State College. His freshman year, he switched from tuba to French horn. After graduating with a degree in music education in 1966, he became the band director and choir director in the Lutesville (now Marble Hill/Woodland) School District. After two years at Lutesville, he spent the next five years in Caruthersville, Mo., then on to Potosi, Mo., for six years.

He came to the Cape Girardeau School District in 1979 and became head band director at Cape Central in the fall of 1988. Cape Central’s Band program has long been distinguished for its excellent marching band program.

Nall feels blessed that many of his former students became music educators. Current Cape Central Band directors Josh Lamar and Billy Keys were students of Nall’s.

According to Lamar, “Having Ron as a director was a lot of fun and very memorable. He had high expectations of us and always raised the level of expectation in our program. You take a lot for granted as a teenager, and looking back, I really appreciate his hard work at Cape Central.”

Keys echoed a similar sentiment, saying, “Mr. Nall was a fun-loving teacher who expected a high level of performance. He was able to balance hard work and building relationships to achieve great bands and teach us how to be good citizens. He is the teacher who inspired me to be a band director.”

All three of Nall’s children were part of the Cape Central Band program. Jeffrey, a trumpeter, still performs frequently in the Springfield, Mo., area. Daron is a commercial artist for the Bass Pro company in Springfield, Mo., and Leslie is an account manager with a medical firm in Texas.

In 1993, Nall became the director of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band, a gig he held for 26 years, until 2018.

After 32 years in public school music education, Nall retired from Cape Girardeau Schools in May of 1998. He is enjoying retirement and four grandchildren with his wife Anita, who is also a retired educator. The couple recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Steve Schaffner is the director of the Music Academy at Southeast Missouri State University. Previously, he was the orchestra director for Cape Girardeau Public Schools and Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School in Augusta, Ga. He has performed and/or directed in 48 states and 11 countries.