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There was no stopping the movement from about 75 band students and directors from throughout the state when the Chippewa Falls High School Alumni Ensemble began to play “When the Saints Go Marching In” at the funeral of the school’s band director, Doug Greenhalgh, his wife, Therese, and their granddaughter Morgan.
Hundreds of mourners filled Trinity United Methodist Church on Thursday morning to say goodbye. A video feed was broadcast outside the church, at nearby First Presbyterian Church and at Chippewa Falls High School to accommodate overflow. It was also shown on public access cable television.
The Greenhalghs died Sunday on their way home from a band competition at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater when the chartered bus they were riding in struck the undercarriage of an overturned semi on Interstate 94 near Osseo. They were among five people killed.
The tragedy has touched the lives of Greenhalgh family, their community, the state, the Midwest and beyond, said the Rev. Richard Estrem-Fuller as he began a “Service of Hope and Remembrance” for the Greenhalghs.
Estrem-Fuller shared family remembrances of Doug, Therese and Morgan, a trio the family said enjoyed their time together.
The family told Estrem-Fuller about Morgan’s great smile, Therese’s house that always looked its best and the filling meals Doug prepared.
There has been a “fitting tribute to a music family,” Estrem-Fuller said, and if heaven has a band, he knows what Doug, Therese and Morgan are doing.
“We put three new people up there who love bands,” he said.
After the service filled with fond remembrances and words of the future, the alumni ensemble’s peppy music led the Greenhalgh’s wooden caskets from the red brick church to three silver hearses waiting outside to go to Forest Hill Cemetery in Chippewa Falls.
Doug and Therese’s Honda Goldwing led the procession. About 50 motorcycles followed the family vehicles.
In marching band uniforms, the students stood at attention as hundreds of community members, friends and co-workers gathered for a farewell salute to the family that made music its life.
McDonell Central High School was among those represented. Seniors Paul Larson, Amanda Tanzer and B.J. Arriola wore uniforms from the school’s past to pay respect to the band director who taught students across the street.
The first McDonell band rehearsal after the fatal accident was “somber,” said Sharon Seymour, band director. “At first, they would like to pretend it didn’t happen,” she said.
Seymour said the week has been a roller coaster, but it’s the kids she worries about the most.
“That could have been any of us on that bus,” she said.
Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424 or agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.
