I was greatly disappointed that you did not place a prominent article in the Times-Union about Margaret Ann Voirol. Do you realize what a huge impact she had on your community and its young people - from the 50s to the 80s - and the thousands of lives she impacted forever? There have been many who have had an impact on Warsaw, but few with the ferver and positive influence of this precious woman.
There are thousands of us throughout the country (perhaps the world) who, when hearing of her passing, started to sing "May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You" as we again relished the memory of this remarkable woman!
In the mid-50s she was a wonderful presence in our lives. As one who was greatly involved in choir and various small groups, she had the ability to bring out our "best self and ability" when preparing us for concerts, competitions and performances throughout the community. Those Sunday night concerts at various churches in the area were special times of getting better acquainted with those around us. And the spring tour also was a highlight for us. She took average talent and made it sound wonderful! She took rough and tumble football players and showed them about the joy of singing and that it wasn't a sissy thing to be in the choir.
I remember walking into the choir room each day and wondering what she would be wearing. For most of our class who had limited wardrobes, her immaculate and tasteful clothes and makeup were things we could only dream of. She was always well groomed, even at 4:30 a.m. when picking us up for the drive to Purdue University for competitions. She was a thoroughly classy lady. The music program at WHS made my high school years awesome and meaningful and its leader touched my life in a many ways.
I last saw her at our class reunion in 2001 and she looked the same except the high heels were replaced with flat shoes! Other than that she was, as always, interested in where we were living and what we were doing, especially with music.
Warsaw was blessed to have this special lady in the school system for so many years. I was the last of four sisters who were in the choir, and I have nieces who followed some years later. Just in our family her influence was felt in a powerful way. And we are only one example of the many who could say much the same.
I hope that people such as Margaret Ann (Miss Voirol to us!) will be recognized in a more prominent fashion in the future.
