Gordon DeBroder’s family bought a $30 piano when he was a kid, and “he took to it immediately,” said his sister, Gloria Whitfield of Arvada.
“From then on, his life was music,” she said.
DeBroder, who died Dec. 18 at age 75, spent his life teaching piano, organ and voice, directing choirs and singing for every wedding of his siblings, nieces and nephews, as well as those of other people.
Services for DeBroder will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Wheat Ridge United Methodist Church, 7530 W. 38th Ave.
DeBroder “was a very good teacher whose first concern was to teach what he knew,” said the Rev. T.L. Phillips, pastor of Wheat Ridge Methodist.
But “it didn’t take” with Phillips, who never mastered learning to read music.
DeBroder taught hundreds of students at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado, and in later years in private lessons at his Edgewater home.
He directed the choir at Lakewood United Methodist Church for 40 years and sang tenor in the choir at Wheat Ridge for almost 10 years.
His tastes in music were simple: classical and religious, Gloria Whitfield said.
DeBroder once went backstage to meet pianist Van Cliburn, who was performing in Denver. The two became friends, and Cliburn visited the DeBroder home. Before leaving, he kissed Gladys DeBroder, DeBroder’s mother, on the cheek. She later told her son, “I’m never going to wash my face.”
DeBroder loved to dine out, especially at the Edgewater Inn, known for its pizza, and Dino’s in west Denver.
He insisted on picking up the tab, said his brother, Charles DeBroder of Lakewood.
Gordon DeBroder was born in Chicago on March 29, 1931, and moved to Colorado with his family because his mother needed a dry climate.
He began playing the family piano when he was 7 or 8 years old.
“It lasted until he bought the Steinway grand,” Charles DeBroder said.
Gordon DeBroder suffered from pneumonia as a child and missed several months of school. He had heart problems over the years and heart surgery last January. He never fully recovered from an infection.
DeBroder graduated from Edgewater High School, where he played in the band, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music at DU and two doctorates at DU – one in music and one in psychology.
His master’s thesis was on the correlation between personality and musical sensitivity.
In addition to his sister and brother, he is survived by another sister, Caryl DeBroder of Watersmeet, Mich., and another brother, Glen DeBroder of Winston-Salem, N.C.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
