Inductee Inspired Countless Students
By LINDA COMINS Arts & Living EditorArticle Photos
Editor's note: The Wheeling Hall of Fame will induct six new members on Sunday, Nov. 30, at WesBanco Arena. Each week until the dinner, the Sunday News-Register will profile inductees and their contributions to the community in their chosen fields as well as the selection process. This is the fifth profile. The Wheeling Hall of Fame committee selects new inductees every two years.
WHEELING - An educator who led a local high school band to a national championship and inspired countless students over a long career has been elected to the Wheeling Hall of Fame.
Stefano R. Ceo (1899-1964), a longtime music director at Triadelphia District High School, will be inducted posthumously into the hall at a banquet at WesBanco Arena Sunday, Nov. 30. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., with dinner served at 6:30 p.m.
He is the inductee in the Religion and Education category. Ceo; Gary E. West, the Business, Industry and Professions inductee; Harold G. "Hal" O'Leary, the Music and Fine Arts inductee; and J. William Grimes and Stuart F. Bloch, Sports and Athletics inductees, are among six overall honorees, Hall of Fame Chairman Dick Dlesk said.
Ceo was born in Italy and graduated from a music conservatory at a young age.
Drafted into the Italian Army at the age of 14, he saw front-line duty against Austria and played in a military band.
After three years of service, Ceo, then 17, emigrated to New York City where he attended City College of New York, paying for his education by copying music for a penny a page and playing clarinet in pit orchestras for Broadway shows. He played for the original production of "No, No, Nanette."
In 1924, Ceo moved to Wheeling, where he was hired to play in the pit orchestra of Earl Summers Sr. at the Virginia Theater. In 1925, he became music director at Triadelphia District High School. During his 35 years of service at Triadelphia, the band he directed won first place, 10 years in a row, in the West Virginia state band competition. In 1933, the Triadelphia marching band and concert band took top honors in a national competition in Evanston, Ill.
During his teaching career, Ceo also taught at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy, Wheeling, where he formed an orchestra. He taught music at a Wheeling orphanage and directed the choir at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Wheeling.
Ceo spent a number of summers teaching at the prestigious Interlochen Academy in Michigan. Locally, he founded a summer music camp at Oglebay Park, attended by students from the tri-state area, and he founded the Wheeling Junior Symphony Orchestra. Although the group was not connected with the Wheeling Symphony, many members were recruited to play in the orchestra during their high school years.
Through his dedication, Ceo won the lasting admiration and respect of his students. One former student commented, "Mr. Ceo never let a talented young musician get away from music because of a lack of funds." A 1955 Triadelphia graduate said of Ceo, "He had a love of music second to no other man I have ever known, and a love for passing on his knowledge, especially to the young people he taught and directed in band and orchestra."
A 1946 Triadelphia graduate observed that the lessons taught by Ceo constitute "the greatest gift that a master teacher can give." In a similar vein, a 1949 graduate said, "Mr. Ceo remains one of the great influences of my life."
Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet will be available until Friday, Nov. 21, at WesBanco Arena or from any of the 18 Hall of Fame committee members including Dlesk or by calling banquet coordinator Laura Carter at 304-232-5978.
Other committee members are James Haranzo, Don Atkinson, Kate Crosbie, Linda Comins, Robert DeFrancis, Sue Seibert Farnsworth, Jeanne Finstein, William J. Ihlenfeld, James Kepner, Jim Squibb, Sister Joanne Gonter, Patricia Pockl, Kate Quinn, William Nutting, Richard L. Coury and Doug Huff.
