A director, chapter leader, administrator, harmony education faculty, coach, and a champion chorus and quartet singer, Richard 'Dick' Webber, tenor of our 1975 MAD Champs, the Reign-Beaus' End, and 2005 MAD Seniors Champs, SAGE, passed away late last week. There is no possible way to express the loss of this man to our hobby and to his beloved chapter, the Chorus of the Chesapeake. Dick was a 63-year member of SPEBSQSA/BHS and has sung in many popular and accomplished quartets. The Reign-Beaus' End (w/ Larry Duggan, Bo Deibel, and Joe Pollio) and the Preservation Quartet (w/ Rick Taylor, Jim Grant, and Joe Pollio) competed in the International Quartet Contest and both earned Top-20 honors. Later, Dick sang in the wildly popular and fun quartet, SAGE (w/ Freddie King, Dave Middelstadt, and Tom Felgen), who entertained audiences throughout our District and across the country. Other quartets included the Harmony Hucksters Quartet, NEXT, The Chronic Chords, and Hals 'N Pals.
Dick was a mover, a shaker, and a great doer. He proudly wore 2 International Chorus Championship medals won by the Dundalk chorus in 1961 and 1971, and served as their Associate Director for many years? He was also a registered in the Mt. Vernon Chapter. Dick was inducted into DELA in 1988, a member of Sage Lake since 1995, a consummate AHSOW member, and served on the founding Board of Directors for MADAQC.
Dick was man of strong conviction and passion for barbershop harmony, particularly the old songs. Most all of us have probably enjoyed a woodshedding or tagging session with him in a lobby, hallway, or stairwell. The time the Reign-Beaus' End came to say their goodbyes to Freddie King in hospice care, they sang for nearly a hour straight. Freddie couldn't resist coaching them on songs they probably hadn’t sung in years, and I recall him joking that Dick sang a little bit flat ... but for the record, he never did!
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