Yet one more tuba player passes away.

[PaulMaybery]

Loss of another good friend and tuba player: Those of you in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area may have known Steve Norby. Steve was dealing with cancer over the past several months and passed away last evening.

Norby, as we loved to call him, was perhaps the most optimistic and upbeat fellow that I ever met. He sported a rebuilt vintage 4v Martin BBb in bright silver and I never saw a bit of tarnish on it in close to 25 years. Steve played in the Great Western Rocky Mountain Brass Band in Silverton for about 30 seasons where he was the voice of the band as our announcer and narrator for some of the band skits. I used to write the scripts and purposely would throw in tongue twisters just to see him struggle. He made so many people smile. He had the only pair of red, white and blue sneakers that I knew of.

I remember way back, I was associate minister of music at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, and would hire Steve to play tuba in the orchestra. Those Sunday mornings changed his life in more ways than one, and it was there that he met Jane. They were married there and Wooddale became their church home.

I first met Steve while directing a community band in 1986. He had this gigantic old black Cadilac convertible that he named L'Fanzo. Don't ask me why. We would take drives in it. Like many vintage cars it made this gurgling sound in the exhaust system attracting all sorts of attention. Steve would smile and wave as folks would give him "thumbs up."

I remember the day he ordered a rebuilt tuba from an ad in the International Musician. It became his signature tuba, the Martin. It arrived at his condo and I came over for show and tell. I could see he was in love with it. It was so shiny you almost needed welders' goggles to look at it. He had a special bag made for it from jewelers anti-tarnish cloth and kept it without even fingerprints for well over 25 years. And yes he used it quite a bit. Just that kinda guy.

Steve and I played locally with the Minnetonka Concert Band and it was about a month ago when we last tooted together. He was sounding pretty good and I was hoping he would be able to make it to the brass band in Silverton this coming summer. At that time, he had been pretty much cleared of his cancer and one last round of therapy was scheduled. To our sadness, his followup exam revealed that the cancer returned as was moving quickly. He went to see his maker around 10 last evening.

We miss you Steve and someday we'll be together again.

Your buddy, Mabes.

[bort]

Paul, that's sad news, and thanks for sharing so many great memories about him. I never met him, but can tell that he must've been a great guy.

[opus37]

Paul, that's sad news, and thanks for sharing so many great memories about him. I never met him, but can tell that he must've been a great guy.

Ditto

[Davidus1]

Thanks for sharing Paul. The fond memories are what makes music so special I think. Very sorry for your loss.

[ronr]

Steve was one of the most passionate people I've ever known. Didn't matter what the subject was, if he was passionate about it that's all that mattered. He had a laugh that could light up a room. I played with him for many years in a western Metro community band. He used to love lighting up the manager of the group by wearing his red socks to concerts.

I had the pleasure of sitting between Paul and Norby in Minnetonka for a few years. It was a dangerous spot as you never knew where the zinger was coming from. On the other hand Steve was one of the kindest, gentlest men I've ever known.

Keep 'em laughing up there, Norby, and remember, it's only community band!

[PaulMaybery]

Memorial Service for Steve Norby:
Tuesday April 19. Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
(Shady Oak Road and Hwy 212)
12 Noon Visitation
1PM Memorial
2PM Coffee

[bisontuba]

Memorial Service for Steve Norby:
Tuesday April 19. Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
(Shady Oak Road and Hwy 212)
12 Noon Visitation
1PM Memorial
2PM Coffee

Nice.....