Obituary: John T. Ferber / Musician, music teacher and school administrator
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John T. "Jack" Ferber, a Braddock native who was a noted musician and music teacher, didn't have children of his own. But when he married Lois, he became a loving father to her son and daughter, whose own father had died in a plane crash.
"Biologically I'm a stepson. But he considered us his children. He opened his arms to us," said Robert Wolfe of Wilkins. "He never legally adopted us but he couldn't have been more of a father to us."
Mr. Ferber, 89, who retired as assistant superintendent of the West Allegheny School District in 1994, died of heart failure Thursday at Juniper Village, an assisted living facility in Forest Hills.
Mr. Ferber was the band director, choral director and supervisor of music in the former Braddock School District through the 1950s before becoming junior high principal in the district. He later moved to the West Allegheny district, where he served as senior high principal and assistant superintendent.
Though Mr. Ferber quit using his musical talents during the school day after he became an administrator, he continued to play the drums for local groups on his nights and weekends until about 20 years ago, Mr. Wolfe said. "He would travel all over playing New Year's Eve parties and weddings and other events," he said.
"He was a Braddock boy but when he married my mother, he moved into my mother's house in Forest Hills and he put a set of drums in the basement and there was always a set of drums in that basement. He loved his drumming," Mr. Wolfe said.
While Mr. Ferber was well-known for his musical performances and as a popular music teacher and band director, there was another significant detail of his life that was not known to many: He was a prisoner of war while serving in the Army during World War II.
Among the items on display at his visitation were letters he wrote home to his mother explaining that he had been taken prisoner. "There was a lot of documentation that was sent out from the Red Cross and letters he had written to his mom," Mr. Wolfe said.
"Being a POW wasn't something he blew his own horn about, yet he was very proud of his service. Until he was too sick, he was active with a support group of World War II vets who met at the Veterans Administration," his stepson said.
Mr. Wolfe said Mr. Ferber was proud of his Braddock roots. In recent years, several women who had organized a multiyear reunion of Braddock High School graduates took a Braddock High School reunion T-shirt to Mr. Ferber at the assisted living facility where he resided. "He wore that shirt all of the time. His roots were in Braddock and he was so proud of that," Mr. Wolfe said.
Mr. Ferber was a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Music.
In addition to his stepson, Mr. Wolfe, proprietor of the Wolfe Memorial Funeral Home, which handled Mr. Ferber's arrangements, he is survived by a stepdaughter, Karen Campbell of Lebanon, Ohio; six step-grandchildren; and one step-great-grandson. He was preceded in death by his late wife, Lois.
Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today at St. Maurice Church, 2001 Ardmore Blvd., Forest Hills, where Mr. Ferber was a longtime usher.
Correction/Clarification: (Published February 2, 2012) The obituary Monday for John T. "Jack" Ferber omitted the name of Mr. Ferber's late wife Lois.
First Published January 30, 2012 12:00 am
