My mom told me after my dad passed away that all he ever wanted to do in life was play his violin in a good, large orchestra. Well, after he and the family moved to Portland, Oregon, he got his chance and didn’t miss it.

We moved to Portland in 1948 because he got a contract to help grade-school kids in the Portland Public School system learn all about music. He was assigned to teach in the same five schools each week, either a half-day twice a week or one whole day once a week, I don’t remember which. This involved demonstrating and teaching all the different instruments in a beginning grade-school orchestra, so he had to be pretty versatile. At least at the basics. 

As a side note, he was paid $2,400 per year and had to find other work during the summer months to supplement that, since he was raising a family that grew to a total of six. At the same time, he attended the University of Portland and received his Master’s Degree in Music Education. 

While he was doing all that he auditioned for the Portland Symphony, now the Oregon Symphony, and was selected to play in the first violin section. He held that position for more than 25 years. I remember going to concerts and seeing him sitting on the outside in the last row so I could watch him easily.

Since his teaching salary didn’t quite cover the family expenses, he also worked gigs out of the musician’s union hall. These jobs included playing in a country swing band, strolling violin in the restaurant at the top of the Hilton Hotel, playing for a royal gypsy wedding reception (which ended in a fistfight while the band kept playing), performing with traveling Broadway shows, and who knows what else.

Oh, did I mention he also had a few private students.

Then in his spare time over a few summers after we moved into a small, rather rundown house in the St. Johns neighborhood, he totally remodeled everything and raised the roof so he could add an attic bedroom. 

Whew, and I thought I have led a busy life.

Unfortunately, his school teaching career didn’t end too gracefully for him. He was only a few years from retirement and was beginning to lose some of his hearing, and macular degeneration was probably starting to ruin his eyesight. Compounding that he was reassigned to a school district that was known to have serious discipline problems and he seemed to me to become defeated. He was just waiting out retirement. He told me later he wished he would have retired 4 or 5 years earlier even if it would have cost him.

After he retired he still played his violin mostly to himself in his music room, and as his hearing and eyesight slowly diminished, he stopped playing altogether.

After he passed away my mom gave his violin to one of my sister’s sons who played in his college orchestra. I don’t know if he still plays the instrument or even if he still has it. I sure hope so.

You can learn more about my dad by reading the books that he authored (and that my mom typed and my sister Karrie published). That is if you can find or borrow one from a family member.

Ken Kaiyala
5-8-2025