Earl Rishel, Teacher, Trumpeter
Earl C. Rishel of Water Mill, a gifted musician and trumpeter who taught at Southampton High School for almost 20 years, died at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing on Sunday. He was 89, and had Alzheimer’s disease.
Music was always a big part of Mr. Rishel’s life. He learned to play the trumpet at 13, served as a bugler on an aircraft carrier during World War II, taught music for 30 years, and frequently practiced and played duets with friends in his music room at home. His family said Christmas was always filled with music, with Mr. Rishel on trumpet and French horn and his wife at the piano while everyone sang carols.
Born on May 9, 1927, in Mechanicsville, N.Y., Mr. Rishel was the youngest of Henry and Mary Rishel’s four children. He joined the Navy on his 18th birthday and was assigned to the U.S.S. Roosevelt. After the war, he attended Ithaca College, where he met Patricia Squires, a fellow music major who grew up in Water Mill. They were married in June of 1953 and moved to Broadalbin, N.Y., where they reared three children.
Mr. Rishel taught music at Broadalbin High School and earned a master’s degree at the State University at Fredonia. In 1967, his wife’s father let the couple know that a teaching position was open at Southampton High School. They jumped at the opportunity, Ms. Rishel recounted in the book “Our Water Mill.” Mr. Rishel was the school’s band and chorus teacher until he retired in 1983.
In Water Mill, the Rishels built a house on property that was part of the Squires family’s potato fields. “It was so quiet then that our dog slept out on the road,” his wife wrote.
Mr. Rishel played in several bands on the South Fork, among them Big Band East, the Sag Harbor Community Band, and the No Doubt World Famous Monday Night Band. A member of the Southampton Presbyterian Church, he was an elder and sang in its choir. Devoted to music, he nevertheless found time to enjoy fishing, golf, and tennis, and was often seen mowing his lawn.
Ms. Rishel, his wife of 63 years, survives, along with their children, Deborah Goodale of Southampton, Jeffrey Rishel of Yorktown Heights, and Matthew Rishel of Water Mill. Five grandchildren, two step-grandsons, and one great-granddaughter also survive.
Visiting hours were held at the Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton yesterday as well as Tuesday. A funeral service was to be held this morning at the Southampton Presbyterian Church at 11, with a graveside service to follow at the Water Mill Cemetery. He will receive naval military honors.
His family has suggested memorial donations to the Southampton Presbyterian Church, 2 South Main Street, Southampton 11969, or the Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center, 45 Park Avenue, Bay Shore, 11706.