In Warner Imig’s mind, music nourished the soul and was therefore indispensable, said his daughter Betsy Imig of Boulder.
But Warner Imig, who died July 15 at age 92, also got nourishment from University of Colorado football games, which he rarely missed.
A reception is planned from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Koenig Alumni Center on the Boulder campus.
The longtime dean of the CU College of Music and nationally known choral director arranged his teaching schedule to avoid missing games.
His own football career was checkered. He had suited up each year for the Yankton College team in South Dakota, annually dislocated his left shoulder in the first game and was forced to sit out the rest of the season. His family teased him that going out for football was his way of getting a good seat for the games.
His CU roots were deep – he started teaching voice there in 1937. For 35 years he was the stadium announcer for home games at Folsom Field, and for 40 years he led the annual July 4 singalongs there.
A master of one-liners, he quipped that the singalongs were the only time “you could get 50,000 people in Boulder to agree on something.”
A baritone who began singing as a child, Imig was still singing weeks before he died in Mesa, Ariz. He had a karaoke screen and CDs, and sang along with a hand-held microphone.
Imig began teaching voice and choral music at CU and was dean of the college from 1951 to 1978, the same year the College of Music building was named for him.
Imig loved teaching and “had a respect for the students,” said daughter Lynn Imig of Denver. “He had a great way of expressing himself with humor. The students tried to please him.”
But not always. Once, a young man in the choir went off to Mexico for two weeks, missing several rehearsals – unacceptable to Imig.
When the young man returned, Imig asked him how the trip was. The man said it was great.
“Good,” Imig said, “because you’ve had your vacation, and you won’t be going on the choir tour.”
The two remained friends. The young singer became a minister, Lynn Imig said.
If any part of the choir hadn’t learned the music, he’d say, “You take this music home to the woodshed. You don’t know it.”
Warner Imig was born Feb. 12, 1913, in Sioux City, Iowa, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Yankton College and a master’s in music education from CU. He studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Hammond, Ind., Stanford University in California and DePauw University in Indiana.
On Dec. 31, 1935, he married Norma Rapalee, whom he met in college. They shared a love of music and poetry. She died in 2003.
In addition to his daughters, he is survived by three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
