Ruth Corstaphney This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. News from The Roanoke Times - Band leader kept Star City in the swing

   www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke%5 - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/6/2005   Last Visited: 9/6/2005

   "He was just born to be a musician," said his widow, Ruth Corstaphney. "His mother used to tell me that she would put him into his room to study and come back a little while later to find music sheets all over his bed."
   
   Corstaphney attended the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he formed his first official band in 1939. After studying at Peabody, Corstaphney settled in Roanoke, where he organized the Freddie Lee Orchestra in 1949. He used his own middle name, Lee, to form the name he used on the bandstand, Freddie Lee.
   
   During Corstaphney's 35-year career as the owner and director of the 14-piece band, the orchestra played regularly at The Greenbrier in White Sulfur Springs, W.Va., The Homestead in Hot Springs and the Hotel Roanoke.
   ...
   For 17 years, Corstaphney was musical director of the Miss Virginia Pageant. Prior to the show, he would be given a prepared rundown of the show, complete with dialogue, remarks and song lyrics. He would sit down with the list sans piano and assign bits of melody to accompany the show. From there, Corstaphney's instructions were passed on to a musical arranger to be completed.
   
   In 1984, Corstaphney sold the band, including the name and bandstand, to Dennis Reaser, who continued to operate the orchestra under the same name for about a year before changing it to the Dennis Reaser Orchestra formerly Freddie Lee.
   ...
   "As a bandleader, he was always standing up," Ruth Corstaphney said. "He decided he needed to get off his feet."
   
   In addition to his musical career, Corstaphney juggled a professional business career. In 1950, he went to work for WSLS radio as a salesman and later became the station's director of advertising and promotion. Prior to that, Corstaphney worked in retail management. In 1959, Corstaphney and John Will Creasy founded Associated Advertising, where Corstaphney handled administration. In 1959, Corstaphney and John Will Creasy founded Associated Advertising, where Corstaphney handled administration.
   ...
   Corstaphney also was involved in a plethora of civic and interest groups throughout his life. He served as charter president of the Optimists Club when it was formed in Roanoke in 1961.
   
   "He loved anything artistic and connected with the art world," Ruth Corstaphney said.