A longtime former Galesburg High School band director described as a brilliant musician with a fierce personality is being remembered for her life-altering impact on hundreds of former students.
Sally Rynott, affectionately known as “Sgt. Sal” for her intense leadership style, died Monday, Nov. 21 at Southeast Iowa Regional Hospice House in West Burlington, Iowa, after a lengthy battle with Lewy Body Dementia. She was 84.
Obituary: Sally Rae Rynott: Jan. 14, 1938 – Nov. 21, 2022
Rynott came to Galesburg in 1968 and served as director of bands and coordinator of music education for Galesburg District 205 for 17 years until 1985. In 1988, Rynott was appointed the Music Specialist Consultant for the New Mexico State Department of Education, advancing to become Assistant Director, Professional Licensure and Nonpublic School Accreditation, and finally State Director, management Support and Intervention, before retiring in 2000.
Mary Beth Erffmeyer Shomos, GHS Class of 1979 and a drum major for the GHS band her junior and senior years, reconnected with Rynott in 2011 and remained friends with her former band director until her death this week.
Erffmeyer Shomos, who now resides in Lincoln, Nebraska, helped organize a band alumni reunion which saw Rynott return to Galesburg in the summer of 2015.
“The lessons I learned in band really helped to form the person that I am today. They were guiding principles throughout my entire life.” – Mary Beth Erffmeyer Shomas, GHS Class of 1979
“The lessons I learned in band really helped to form the person that I am today,” Erffmeyer Shomos said. “They were guiding principles throughout my entire life.
“Her teaching methods were unorthodox and they would not be tolerated now. But she had certain expectations and we reached them. And because of that, we are all better people.
“I learned more from band and my experience being around Sally Rynott than I did in any class that I was ever in.”
John Funkhouser, a 1981 GHS graduate and drum major of the Marching Streaks from 1979-81, said Rynott was a model of consistency and discipline.
“The thing that sticks with me is how year after year, Sally would bring in a fresh group of kids and show them how to work hard and together and get them to believe,” said Funkhouser, who now resides in Los Angeles.
“These Galesburg kids had never worked so hard and she demanded all we could give. We gave blood sweat and tears, and it was love. ‘Sargeant Sally’ gave way to her love for her kids.”
Funkhouser added, “I still sing and have music in my life and it’s in great measure her legacy.”
Erffmeyer Shomos watched her older brother play in the band under Rynott, and said it was always her dream to be in the Marching Streaks.
Toward the end of her sophomore year, Erffmeyer Shomos was approached by Rynott to become the drum major of the Marching Streaks.
‘Galesburg had never seen anything like Sally Rynott’
Erffmeyer Shomos describes Rynott as a trendsetter.
“When she came to Galesburg, Galesburg had never seen anything like Sally Rynott,” Erffmeyer Shomos said. “And the band program just took off.
“I can’t imagine what it was like for her, being a woman and leading a band in the late 60s, coming into a pretty male dominated world. It was a boys clubs.”
Being in the band was a rewarding, yet challenging proposition according to Erffmeyer Shomos.
“There were times she put music on our stands and I would say, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to play that.’ And guess what? We played it, and we played it really well,” Erffmeyer Shomos said. “She set expectations high and held us accountable. She not only educated us about music, but about the culture and the art. And she taught us what to wear, how to behave.
“I’ve talked to people who have gone into the military, and they said boot camp was a piece of cake, because they were in band under Sally Rynott.”
1982 GHS grad Chris Soderquist reflects on Sally Rynott
Erffmeyer Shomos said without question, Rynott broke barriers during her time in Galesburg.
“I think certain communities within the community had and still have real respect for Sally Rynott and what she was doing,” she said. “But I do think there was a gender bias going on. I told her in July that she broke barriers for women in music.
“Was she a trendsetter? Absolutely. Did she inspire many women to go on to be band directors or choral directors? Yes. I’m amazed at the number of people, especially women, who were students of hers and have gone into music. She really led the way for women to gain entry and acceptance into a field that was male dominated.”
‘A brilliant musician and she had a fierce personality’
Erffmeyer Shomos was able to visit Rynott this past summer in Burlington.
“I’d say 90% of the conversation was in the moment,” she said. “And she asked me if she had been too hard on people through the years. It worried her.
“As an adult looking back, I would say she was a brilliant musician and she had a fierce personality, which when you’re a woman, that’s not always perceived to be an attribute. But we stayed with her.”
There’s been an outpouring of memories of Rynott on a GHS Band Alumni Facebook group. Erffmeyer Shomos said she believes some of Rynott’s most memorable years occurred during her tenure in Galesburg.
“The comments are pretty much all ‘she changed my life,’” Erffmeyer Shomos said. “She went on to do some really fine things in music education in New Mexico after leaving Galesburg. But if you look at her obituary — and I was kind of surprised by this — they mention Sally’s kids. And people in the band refer to themselves as Sally’s kids.”
‘She sure left an indelible mark on Galesburg’
Dozens of Rynott’s former students have taken to social media to share memories and appreciation of their revered band leader.
Kevin McOlgan, a 1975 GHS graduate who played saxophone and piano and served as band president, said he still remembers the quote, “If you can make it through this band program, you’ll be successful in life.”
In a Facebook post remembering Rynott, McOlgan wrote, “Fearless, determined, ultra-demanding, one of my most influential teachers. Her professional stature as a band director in Illinois was palpable, and she sure left an indelible mark on Galesburg. And punctuality. .. oh boy, if she called a 6 p.m. extra band rehearsal (the day of, of course), we were there by 5:15 for fear she said 5:30.
“Oh the thousands of stories her band students could tell! Sally put only the finest band literature in front of us: Holst, John Barnes Chance, Norman Dello Joio, Alfred Reed Punchinello, Elsa’s by Wagner, 1812 (with cannons), Death and Transfiguration by Strauss. No one dared to enter the band room unprepared or without a pencil. A mighty force.”
Inspired by Rynott, McOlgan was a lifelong band teacher, teaching band for 15 years at Laraway Junior High School in Joliet and for 20 years at Riverside Brookfield High School.
“I attribute my successful career to the wonderful mentorship from Roland Hegg, and of course, Sally,” said McOlgan, who now resides in Forest Park.
According to her obituary, survivors include soulmate Cynthia Leonard; sister Joanne Magdefrau; brother James Rynott; six nephews and nieces; nine grandnephews and nieces; Misty the Miniature Schnauzer, and hundreds of Sally’s Galesburg High School (GHS) Band Kids.
She was preceded in death by her parents, five Miniature Schnauzers and several GHS Band Kids.
The funeral service for Sally Rynott will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Lunning Chapel in Burlington, Iowa.
