My Trails into the Past

My father-in-law, George Gorrell’s first cousin, Dorothy Davey Borst, was a pianist and teacher. [1] She was born on 25 June 1910 in Springfield, Missouri, to Fred James Davey and Alice C. Pfotenhauer. [2] Her father was a musician who played the trombone in bands and a music teacher who taught out of his home. So, there was music in her home growing up. Childhood By age ten, she was performing in piano recitals. In 1920, she took lessons from Miss Gladys Deaton and played Gypsy Rondo by Haydn. [3] Later that year, she performed “Faust Waltz” by Gounod Lang. [4] She performed a piano solo at the parent-teacher meeting at Weaver School in December 1920. [5] A recital held in July 1922 featured Dorothy Davey and Henryetta Looney, both students of Miss Deaton, and each played seven pieces. [6] She performed for a Kiwanis luncheon the following year. [7] She won the first-place prize in a piano solo contest of Southwest Missouri high schools in May 1924. “She was said to be the...