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Sad news out of Rockford


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Obituary for David St. Angel

Please note that the family has decided memorials will go towards a scholarship fund for Phantom Regiment. That's the David I knew...PR to the end.

The activity is a less interesting and colorful one without him.

Edited by Michael Boo
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That is very sad news. Dave was a great, great man, who was a great corps director and role model for those of us who marched in his corps.

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I wrote about him in my 2008 Semifinals blog for DCI.org. Here's the link and the extraction. The article was written live during Seminfinals and focused on what each of the corps in Semifinals meant to me, being that I couldn't write about all the performances live to the end of the show as I had to get on my uniform and run down to the field for the Cavaliers Alumni Corps performance.

Several years ago, I postponed a Caribbean vacation to speak at the corps’ banquet, the year my friend David St. Angel was scheduled to retire as director. (I say, “scheduled,” because events conspired to bring him back for a short interim stint awhile later.) We weren’t always friends. A few years earlier, I had written something in a humor column I used to do for Drum Corps World that he took offense at…or at least I was led to believe so. I had written something that was a smart aleck attempt at humor…about the corps wanting to drive its buses over Niagara Falls after a placement lower than expected at the World Championships outside of Buffalo.

David accosted me at the DCI Annual Meeting, with a number of other corps directors looking on. He stated, “So, you think our buses going over Niagara Falls would be funny?” I stammered. He continued, “So, you think it would be funny to see a bunch of helmets and bodies floating downriver?” By then, I was petrified. I didn’t know David yet, but I kind of feared him because he seemed so gruff. And then he picked up a nail file that just happened to be sitting on a table next to him, (and it turns out it wasn’t planted there), handed it to me, (I didn’t know what to do except take it), turned around, threw up his arms, (remember other directors are watching this in the hallway), and proclaimed, “Why don’t you do it [stab me in the back] right now, while others are watching?”

I wanted to go “poof” and disappear. And then I saw his shoulders throbbing up and down and he couldn’t hold it in any longer as he convulsed in laughter. He had “gotten me” but good, and I had to respect that. I’ve always wondered if the corps picked up on that demeanor. It seems so right for Phantom.

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I wrote about him in my 2008 Semifinals blog for DCI.org. Here's the link and the extraction. The article was written live during Seminfinals and focused on what each of the corps in Semifinals meant to me, being that I couldn't write about all the performances live to the end of the show as I had to get on my uniform and run down to the field for the Cavaliers Alumni Corps performance.

Several years ago, I postponed a Caribbean vacation to speak at the corps’ banquet, the year my friend David St. Angel was scheduled to retire as director. (I say, “scheduled,” because events conspired to bring him back for a short interim stint awhile later.) We weren’t always friends. A few years earlier, I had written something in a humor column I used to do for Drum Corps World that he took offense at…or at least I was led to believe so. I had written something that was a smart aleck attempt at humor…about the corps wanting to drive its buses over Niagara Falls after a placement lower than expected at the World Championships outside of Buffalo.

David accosted me at the DCI Annual Meeting, with a number of other corps directors looking on. He stated, “So, you think our buses going over Niagara Falls would be funny?” I stammered. He continued, “So, you think it would be funny to see a bunch of helmets and bodies floating downriver?” By then, I was petrified. I didn’t know David yet, but I kind of feared him because he seemed so gruff. And then he picked up a nail file that just happened to be sitting on a table next to him, (and it turns out it wasn’t planted there), handed it to me, (I didn’t know what to do except take it), turned around, threw up his arms, (remember other directors are watching this in the hallway), and proclaimed, “Why don’t you do it [stab me in the back] right now, while others are watching?”

I wanted to go “poof” and disappear. And then I saw his shoulders throbbing up and down and he couldn’t hold it in any longer as he convulsed in laughter. He had “gotten me” but good, and I had to respect that. I’ve always wondered if the corps picked up on that demeanor. It seems so right for Phantom.

St. Angel - 1, Boo - 0

Was this a prelude for Spartacus?

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St. Angel - 1, Boo - 0

Was this a prelude for Spartacus?

There was less blood shed in the "Spartacus" show.

Seriously...what Dave did to me is one of my favorite drum corps memories. It's among the stories I've shared the most over the years.

I'm tearing up thinking about it...a combination of sadness, but with a smile.

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St. Angel - 1, Boo - 0

Was this a prelude for Spartacus?

no just a middle finger on live tv.

RIP David

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