Week 14: Music in the Tree - Band Director Mr. DeJesu

This past Saturday, March 28, 2026, I got to see my niece Bree perform in her first band concert. She plays the trumpet, and watching her up there brought back a lot of memories.

It got me thinking about my own time in the school band and just how deep music runs in my family. I played the clarinet, just like my great-uncle Allen and my great-grandfather Abe. I only learned that fact about Abe recently, from a newspaper article about the Freeport Fire Department band.

There’s musical talent on every branch of my family tree. My mother has a beautiful voice, and I’m told her mother did too. That is not a gene I inherited. My other niece plays the drums as well as the piano, although now she is much more into competing with her high school swim team. I am not sure if she still takes music lessons. My sisters played instruments in grade school too: one played the violin, the other the flute. 

My paternal grandmother also played the flute, and in her personal scrapbooks there’s a photo of her standing with her high school band teacher. At least, that’s what I eventually concluded. At first, I wasn’t sure if the very tall man in uniform was actually her teacher or just another musician who happened to march in the same parade that day. My grandmother did enjoy taking photos with very tall people. She got a kick out of the contrast between them. She was so tiny, just 4'9" at her tallest, before aging set in and robbed her of a good 3 inches.

The back of the photo was labeled Jimmy DeJesu. I threw that name into Ancestry.com along with the town my grandmother grew up in, Uniondale, Nassau County, New York, and sure enough I found his records.

The first record I came across was his WWII draft registration card, on which he listed his occupation as “self-employed (music teacher).” At the time of this registration he was living in my hometown, just a few miles west of where grandma went to high school. Additionally, that registration card notes his height as 5'10 1/2", in case you were wondering. 

I’ve tried reaching out to someone who lists Mr. DeJesu as her great-grandfather in her Ancestry.com family tree, but so far I haven’t received a response. I’ve also contacted members of Jimmy’s wife’s family via social media platforms in the hope of getting the photo into the hands of his relatives.

Just something about seeing Bree on stage with her instrument in hand reminded me of all the other relatives who have played music, including the photo of my grandmother in her school days. It made me think about how at some points in our lives, music can play such a central role in shaping one's identity.