Remembering Richard "Dick" Ordway
MDI High School Teacher Who Built a Musical Legacy
BAR HARBOR—There can be magic in music and there can be magic in a musical man and sometimes that magic makes a local legend.
Bar Harbor’s music man for many decades and who built a legacy of music for dozens and dozens of students, Richard James Ordway, died December 23 at home. He was 78.
“All you have to do is look at the dozens of comments about his passing to see what a profound influence he had on generations of islanders, for many of us we cannot hear Jesus Christ Superstar and not think of Mr. Ordway and his lasting legacy,” said Bar Harbor Town Councilor and former student Matthew Hochman. “I had the privilege of knowing the three arts legends of MDI High School in Mr. Demas, Ms. Higgins, and Mr. Ordway and all I can say is that Heaven is gonna have one hell of an arts program!”
In the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, Caiaphas says, “One thing I'll say for him, Jesus is cool.” The same can be said for Richard Ordway. Cool might not be a strong enough word to encompass the phenom that he was.
Before his time at Mount Desert Island High School, Richard “Dick” Ordway grew up in Corinna and served in the United States Navy. He was a University of Maine graduate and attended Northern Conservatory Music.
According to his obituary, those educational experiences fostered “a passion for teaching that resulted in the establishment of a renowned music program at MDI over 25 years. Following his retirement, Dick and his wife Jan undertook a twenty-year sailing expedition across 16 countries. Over the past decade, he has resided in Cape Coral, Fla., where he enjoyed time with family and friends.”
Dick was the kind of human who amazed others—as a teacher, as an influence, as a musician, as a friend. He made memories for his students and those memories were full of joy. As Holly Jordan-Norris wrote on Facebook, “Mr. Ordway was remarkable, kind, caring, and inspiring, and loved by all his students. Entirely unforgettable.”
He led the high school band to multiple state championships during his tenure.
Dick and his wife of 54 years, Janice Cameron Ordway, led off many sing-a-longs including many at the Eden Baptist Parish Hall at Salisbury Cove for family reunions and other events. Dick’s soaring trumpet played in halls, fields, and gyms around the county.
“It’s fun to do so many different things with music,” Dick told the Ellsworth American in 1989 as he led the pep band at a high school basketball game. The band and chorus that he led blossomed to over 175 students.
He also did different things with his life, sailing into his retirement on a catamaran for many years, exploring the seas.
One memorable event—in a less than happy way—was when Ordway brought three busses to Washington, D.C., in 1991 and one of the older buses lost its brakes while it was turning. It rolled down an incline. To try to slow it down, the driver steered over a curb and drove it intentionally into a railing. There were no injuries.
Along with Janice, Dick leaves his children: Kenneth Cameron Ordway (Jamie Webber Ordway) and Eric Heath Ordway (Elizabeth Procell-Ordway); grandchildren: Sophia Ordway and Lennox Ordway; sister, Sandra Eastman (Dean Eastman); as well as numerous relatives and friends.
He also leaves behind an unforgettable legacy of kindness and joy, enthusiasm and immersion into musical moments.
LINKS
Instead of flowers, kindly donate to the MDI Band Boosters Fund: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4TS43ACG7QMPN.
The MDI High School band playing “Jesus Christ Superstar” in 2014, approximately 14 years after Dick moved on from there. The legacy lives on.
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Rick Osann Art.
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