Pictured is Bill Knight, a local private music teacher who had mentored and taught hundreds of music students over the past 50 years. Submitted photo

The life and legacy of a beloved local music teacher will live on in the hearts of those who knew him.

William Knight, the former band director at Jamestown Public Schools, died Tuesday, April 12, at UPMC Chautauqua. He was well-known for his private music studio where he taught thousands of students, many of whom went on to be selected for All-County and Area All-State programs.

Knight was unable to continue teaching in public schools after an accident in 1972, which left him confined to a wheelchair. However, he did not let this stop him and became a local icon of the musical community.

Norm Lydell, former director of the Jamestown High School A Cappella Choir and band director, said he got his musical start in brass with the help of Knight. Over the years, Knight became a good friend and was even the best man at Lydell’s wedding.

“The thing is he cast such a broad shadow — not only did he serve as a kind of authority and advisor to anybody, especially Chautauqua County music teachers, but also anybody who needed advice regarding brass pedagogy,” Lydell said. “He was the guy that was easily accessible and anxious to help, especially teachers that were starting out. I was a student of his and there are a lot of teachers in the county that were students of his from 30 years ago and they are teaching music. … He made a connection with students.”

Lydell said his three sons studied with Knight and had a wonderful rapport with him.

“I speak to that as a teacher and as a parent,” Lydell said. “He would say things and they would say things to him and he would get things out of them that I couldn’t. It was beyond just the music lesson. Sometimes a kid would go in and they just needed to chat for a little bit, so he would give them the time and then it would be, ‘Let’s get back on task.’ He just had a way of connecting with kids and had a real understanding of kids — middle school, high school kids — and understood their development, understood their needs, both musically and emotionally.”

Lydell said he fondly remembers the GoFundMe campaign he and other friends and students of Knight’s put together to help purchase a van. The campaign ended up with an offer from West Herr New Yor, a Western New York car dealership, to donate the last of the money to meet the campaign’s goal. Lydell said the fund also ensured Knight had resources to help with medical bills and other expenses.

“That was just a tremendous relief,” he said. “Having been close to him and around him, how humble he was by the outpouring of the community at large and his former students from all over the country contributing to that.”

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Tony Dolce, a local teacher and president of the Jamestown City Council, said he knows Knight will be missed.

“Bill Knight had a profound impact on the local musical community spanning many decades,” Dolce said. “He taught so many brass students who went on to become outstanding musicians and educators. He touched our family, teaching my wife, Anne, who went on to major in music and has been the band director at Panama Central School for 30 years. He also taught both of our children, Amelia and Christian. His passing will be a huge loss to the music community in Jamestown.”

Anne Dolce remains the band director at Panama Central School and said Knight’s teaching profoundly impacted her life.

“I was his very first French horn student when he came back to teaching after his accident,” Dolce said. “I used to have my lessons at Heritage Village Nursing Home in the conference room. That was back in seventh grade, and I went on to continue my French horn playing, and I ended up going to West Virginia University and becoming a band director. This is my 35th year of teaching; I taught for five years in the Washington, D.C., area but came back to this area when the job opened up at Panama Central School. It was great to come back and give back to the community with everything that I learned from Bill.”

“I am the teacher I am today because of how much I learned from him,” she added. “I don’t think there’s any stronger statement that anyone can say about how amazing he was. As I came back to teach here, he became my friend.”

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Lind Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 1-4 p.m. prior to the service in the funeral home.