George “Richard” Minner Jr., a Baltimore County Public Schools elementary instrumental music educator of nearly 50 years, died of liver cancer at home, in Dundalk, on January 25. He was 79.

Born in Baltimore to Elsie Louise Minner (nee Pence), originally of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and George Richard Minner Sr., originally of Swiss, West Virginia, Richard and his sister, Anna, grew up hearing music and enjoying foods from points further south. The family made their life in the concrete homes of Dundalk, near Watersedge. They were some of the original residents of Louth Road.

Music was a big part of family life from the start. When Richard was still quite young, his father brought a fiddle down from the attic and played for him. The fiddle never returned to the attic. Richard studied violin throughout his own Baltimore County Public Schools education, receiving special mentorship from his band teachers as well as fellow musicians who attended the Dundalk Presbyterian Church with the family. Richard taught himself to play banjo as a teenager. Anna’s most cherished memories with her brother are of nightly singalongs they would lead, with his accompaniment on banjo, at the campground where the family vacationed annually, in Ocean City.

Following graduation from Dundalk High School in 1964, Richard’s band teacher, Harrison Schlee, helped usher him into the Peabody Conservatory of Music on a viola scholarship. At Peabody, Richard pledged Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia—"Once a Sinfonian, always a Sinfonian”—and learned many more instruments. While he appreciated classical music and even opera, his heart was always with peoples’ music—especially bluegrass, country, and rock’n’roll.

Richard worked a variety of jobs at Bethlehem Steel during the summer months to help cover tuition at Peabody. Interested in anything mechanical or relating to construction since childhood, he also became an accomplished auto mechanic and, of necessity, a repairman of nearly anything.

He graduated from Peabody in 1968 and would later go on to earn a masters equivalency from Towson University. He married his longtime sweetheart and the love of his life, Frieda, in 1970. They bought a fixer-upper across the street from his parents and fixed it up themselves, with the help of close friends who became extended family. For decades, these friends did everything together—worked on each other's houses, played and managed women's softball through the Watersedge Rec Council, camped, were avid boaters and water skiers, raised children, and, of course, made music.

Richard taught the vast majority of his years in service at Bear Creek and Sandy Plains Elementary Schools. This caused him to be somewhat of a local celebrity, with former students of all ages shouting “Mr. Minner!” the moment they recognized him anywhere out in the community.

He was most proud of his family. A devoted father and grandfather of girls, he made sure his daughters and granddaughter were exposed to the things he loved—good music, the great outdoors, being on the water, animals, Westerns, hardware stores, junk shops, scrap yards, tools, trains, cookies, and more. Richard’s girls inherited his impeccable taste and his mischievous sense of humor.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 55 years, Frieda Colleen Minner (nee Sampson), daughters Ashley Minner Jones (Thomas) and Emily Anne Minner, granddaughter Alice Mae Jones, sister Anna Louise Melton (nee Minner), the host of good friends he kept over his lifetime, granddog Reggie, grandturtleLeadbelly, and his cat Oline.

A viewing will be held at Connelly Funeral Home of Dundalk, 7110 Sollers Point Road, from 3–7 PM on Wednesday, February 4, and a celebration of life at the same location, 11 AM on Thursday, February 5, with interment to follow at Bel Air Memorial Gardens.