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 "Photo: Photo courtesy of the music department")
Deborah Reinhardt expressed her love of music through her teaching.
The music professor died in a car accident on Highway 70 around 10 p.m. on Sept. 25 while returning from a conference in Graeagle in Plumas County, according to a university report. She was 56 years old.
Reinhardt was also the adviser for the music department and president-elect of the north state section of the California Music Educators Association. She taught music education and a liberal studies class called "Music for Children."
A memorial service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Room 134. A reception will follow in PAC Room 112.
Reinhardt grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and began teaching at Chico State in 2000. She was active in education, said Keith Seppanen, music department chair.
"She was a very dedicated teacher to both music majors and in the liberal studies area," he said.
Reinhardt's main instrument was the piano.
Music professor Pam Ames was asked to take over two of Reinhardt's "Music for Children" sections. Reinhardt also organized choral, solo and ensemble festivals for junior high and high school students.
"She taught her students to be professional and respect her time," Ames said in an e-mail. "She criticized constructively and concisely."
Reinhardt attended powwows and loved Native American music. She encouraged Ames to participate in the Feather River Singers, a women's Native American drum circle.
Lois Friedlander and Reinhardt met when they were 18 years old. Reinhardt loved to cook and travel.
"She loved food," Friedlander said. "She loved good food, and she was a perfectionist when it came to baking aromatic breads and cookies."
Music education major Anna Van Vleet transferred to Chico State with Reinhardt's help last year. Reinhardt helped Van Vleet find a curriculum for the violin despite that Chico State did not have a string program.
"She was willing to bat for me and seek alternative ways to get me the teachers I needed to pursue violin classically, even though this meant extra work on her part to create a program out of nothing," she wrote in a tribute to Reinhardt.
Reinhardt taught in Germany, Maine, Ohio and Montana, she said.
"I will miss her tremendously, and my heart grieves the loss of my teacher, adviser and friend," Van Vleet wrote.
Stacey Kennelly can be reached at skennelly@theorion.com
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