Little Louie and the Boys’ Band

A funeral was held earlier this week for Louis Dinndorf, the last of G. Oliver Riggs’ former pupils to retire from the St. Cloud Municipal Band.

I never got the chance to meet Louie, unfortunately. He had been living in a St. Cloud nursing home for the past several years and was not well enough for me to interview him. But my dad got to know him when they played together in the St. Cloud Municipal Band. Louie retired from the band in 2006.

The St. Cloud Boys’ Band with Director Riggs at the rehearsal hall, March 13, 1939.

Louie is the guy who told my dad the story about how he desperately wanted to join the boys’ band at age 8, but he wasn’t sure G. Oliver would allow it; the boys were supposed to be at least 10 years old to be in the band.

Louie decided to ask G. Oliver, anyway. G. Oliver told him, “If you can carry your horn, you can play in the band.”

It sounds easy enough, right? Except Louie didn’t play the clarinet or the flute, he played tenor saxophone, a medium-sized saxophone that can weigh 6 to 8 pounds. We learned a few years ago from Louie’s friend Dick Egerman that in warmer weather, Louie would put his sax in a wagon and pull it to band practice, and in the winter, he would transport it on a sled.

I have never seen a photograph of 8-year-old Louie, but in my mind I picture a plucky little kid, barely taller than his sax, who was determined to be a musician. That determination clearly stayed with him for more than 60 years.

Louis P. Dinndorf, 1929-2013

Louis P. “Louie” Dinndorf was born Aug. 29, 1929, in St. Cloud. He served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, and he was a painter with his father and his brother Harry for LD Dinndorf and Sons. Louie was a member of the St. Cloud Municipal Band for 63 years. He also played with other local bands, including the Lou-Dinny Trio, the Nocturnes big band, and the Stan & Bob Brenny Polka Band. In his obituary, it says he “will be remembered for his quick wit, ready smile, and his love of music.”

He is survived by his wife, Joyce, five children, 11 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; two siblings, and many nieces and nephews. My condolences go out to his family and friends. I know he will be missed.