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Henry Fulmer posted a condolence
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Remembering Greg two years after his passing. May he rest in peace and continue to live on in the collective memories of those who knew and loved him.
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Charles Owings lit a candle
Monday, August 31, 2020
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It was such a pleasure to know you and to perform with you.
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David Page uploaded photo(s)
Sunday, August 30, 2020
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Greg Chesney, Hillwood Estate and Garden, Washington, DC Autumn 2005
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David Page lit a candle
Saturday, August 29, 2020
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Best Friends
A Letter to Greg B. Chesney
Dear Greg,
Today is August 29, 2020, and I am writing to thank you for our lifelong friendship and to say good bye.
Our friendship began 47 years ago. You were finishing the 7th and me the 9th grade. The friendship fit from the beginning. You were always ready to go Greenville – and I was ready to drive – lunch at the Red Barron on Main Street and shopping at Pecknel Music. It seemed to take hours to thumb through the organ and piano music sections! I was bit bored. You were in your element! You loved classical music – learning, practicing, performing – it filled your heart. You shared that love of classical music and enhanced our lives.
You impressed everyone at an early age. We knew then your talent would take you beyond our hometown. You played for countless musicals, graduations, recitals, weddings, funerals, worship services, choir, chorus, dance rehearsals and performances. Your ability to sight read music was incredible. I turned music pages and watched you play. Your eyes looked ahead, your fingers, and feet on the organ pedal board, followed.
Your first Sunday as a paid church organist in the 11th grade at Mauldin Methodist Church was unforgettable. You attended church the week before to familiarize yourself with the service. You were ready to impress the congregation, choir, and minister with your talent. Next week you are on the organ bench, playing the Prelude while the choir assembled in the vestibule. The light call system at the organ console indicated when the choir was ready to enter. They flipped the switch, the light was lit, and you finished the Prelude. You started the processional music – a big showy piece no doubt. The choir enters processioned down the center aisle, with waving banners on tall poles leading the way. You said later – it looked like the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria coming into harbor! We laughed! We were teenagers! The organ malfunctioned later during the same service. A stuck valve caused one pipe to play on its own! The only way to quiet the pipe was to remove it from the wind chest (that was not happening) or turn off the organ blower. So you turned it off. The problem was you needed to be ready to accompany the choir in the “Amen” immediately after the pastor ended his prayer. You waited, listened, not knowing his prayer pattern. You guessed when you thought he was about finished and turned on the blower. The pipe starts to play a high pitched “wheeeeeee” and loudly! The minister continued to pray, and pray, and pray. He finally finished. You made it through the service, adjusting to the situation as a young professional musician.
In Cincinnati you accompanied a large chorus in a rehearsal without a piano score. You played from a 12-line orchestral score instead of piano music, reading notes down the page, to combine into playable music. No easy task! The conductor and chorus gave you a hearty round of applause at the end of a very long night! You impressed yourself.
Each Halloween season while in Ohio, you played J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor as the Postlude following the service. The organ piece made famous by TV commercials and seasonal recordings. The children and teens would stand near the console and listen. You were so happy to show the music, they heard elsewhere, was classical music. You reached a younger audience!
About 15 years ago during the Christmas season your mother and I attended Fountain Inn Methodist Church Sunday service, where you played as a guest organist. Following the service we were talking with a neighbor who told someone standing in the group, you and I had been friends since high school. I was so proud!
For everyone, staying a friend over the years and across the distances takes commitment. Months would pass and when we reconnected we picked up where we left off the last time we talked. For everyone, family is usually chosen for us, but friends, best friends, we get to choose. Our commitment ensured we stayed best friends regardless of distance and time.
We had many laughs over the years. We never took ourselves too seriously and never criticized the other out of respect. And when life was difficult we were there, we listened, and supported each other.
After your daddy passed away, you and your mother joined us, for several years, at my parent’s house for Christmas Day lunch. It was an opportunity for the five of us to enjoy time together. Each year you said the prayer and always prayed “for the sick and the sad”. You thought of others who had a need. So admirable! Frances told her stories – always entertaining, even if we had heard then before. She was hilarious! Her friends should write a book! She always concluded the visit saying how much she enjoyed the fellowship and appreciated our friendship. My family has too!
You visited over the years while I lived to Columbia, Charleston, and Arlington, Virginia. We explored typical sites, formal gardens, restaurants, and of course local churches. You loved them all!
On recent visits to Fountain Inn we had breakfast at a diner in Simpsonville. We ate, drank coffee, and updated on the latest gossip and events in our lives. It was what we had always done – sat, talked, listened, laughed, and be friends.
Now it is time to say good bye.
On behalf of the thousands of performers, conductors and directors, worshippers, and audiences; thank you for sharing music, and for enlightening us on classical music. Greg, I am sad knowing there are no opportunities to spend time together. I miss you today and will miss you each day afterwards. I take comfort knowing our friendship lasted 47 years, achieved through the commitment of two best friends.
Always,
David Page
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Jennie Gault lit a candle
Saturday, August 29, 2020
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Jane Morlan lit a candle
Friday, August 28, 2020
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Jane Morlan uploaded photo(s)
Friday, August 28, 2020
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Margaret Kenney lit a candle
Friday, August 28, 2020
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Gllarkin@bellsouth.net posted a condolence
Friday, August 28, 2020
He was a top rate musician, very tuned into the needs of those he accompanied. The Fountain Inn Chorale will miss him greatly. Also, his kindness was obvious by the way he structured his life.
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In Loving Memory
Gregory Chesney
1959 - 2020
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