It’s fair to say Columbus wasn’t ready for the last of Trudy Gildea’s kids to get out of school.
Going into the 1980s, the arts and cultural landscape of Columbus could be best described as modest. It was roughly at that point when Gildea turned her fierce attention to the arts. What didn’t exist, she created. What existed, she improved.
Today, the arts scene in Columbus has few rivals for a city its size, thanks in no small part to a little lady with big ambitions.
Gertrude “Trudy” Serby Gildea died Wednesday at her home at age 93, leaving an unrivaled legacy as a patron of the arts in Columbus and the Golden Triangle.
“She was strong, courageous and did whatever it took to get the job done,” said Diane Ford, a friend and collaborator.
“Miss Trudy believed in impossible things,” said her son, Brian Gildea. “I’m talking ‘through the looking glass’ things.”
“She was a force,” said Beth Imes, another person drawn into Gildea’s irresistible orbit.
“She brought so much to Columbus that I could not imagine coming here without her.”
Not love at first sight
A native New Yorker and a Cornell University graduate, Gildea arrived in Columbus in 1962 when her husband, Ray, became a professor at what is now Mississippi University for Women. She was 32 years old and had followed Ray from Florida to Alabama to Louisiana and finally Columbus as he pursued his teaching career.
In a 2015 Catfish Alley magazine story, Gildea was candid about her feelings after arriving.
“I was very depressed,” she said. “But I decided I could be miserable, or I could do something.”
That something became a lot of things.
“My mother wore many hats,” Patti Gildea said of Trudy.
Did she ever.
It seemed as though she was everywhere.
An avid reader, Gildea went back to school to earn a master’s degree and began teaching remedial reading to students at the Demonstration School. She joined Friends of Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, serving as president of the group. In 1968 she founded the Starkville Symphony Orchestra, performing as a violinist for more than 40 years.
She served as president of the MUW Faculty Wives Club and director of the Columbus Arts Council, helping acquire its current building on Main Street and Fifth Street, including contributing money from her family’s foundation for early property-related expenses.
Until the unfortunate split within the Methodist Church, she was a devoted, 38-year member of First United Methodist Church, taking a particular delight in her Sunday school class.
String music
Gildea was an enthusiastic supporter of all aspects of the arts, but it was music — particularly the violin — that was closest to her heart.
She came from a musical home — her parents and four siblings all played instruments. The public school system in New York offered orchestral instruments from fourth grade on. Gildea excelled, inspiring her mother to arrange for her to study violin at the prestigious Juilliard School.
Those memories inspired Gildea to begin string programs in the Columbus, Starkville and West Point schools. In 1980, she took it a step further, securing a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission to establish a Suzuki Strings program in Columbus. The Suzuki Strings method focuses on teaching violin to children that emphasizes the collaboration of students, parents and teachers.
Hundreds of children in the Golden Triangle have gone through the program Gildea established, including Laura Sandifer Pitner, who began studying violin with Suzuki Strings in 2000 at age 4.
“It’s my life now, 24/7,” said Pitner, who is now a Suzuki Strings teacher. Pitner credits much of her decision to teach full-time to Gildea.
“What I saw was her commitment,” Pitner said. “She pursued what she loved, and sometimes that takes a lot of dedication. Watching her, I’m sure there were days that were tough, when she wasn’t getting the student’s best effort or the student had a bad attitude. But she never seemed discouraged. She was always positive.”
All about people
In everything Trudy Gildea pursued, her daughter believed there was one common denominator.
“My mother loved people,” Patti Gildea said. “That was at the heart of everything, including her home.
Gildea was an enthusiastic part of the Columbus Pilgrimage for more than 20 years. Indeed, she was thrilled to have visitors stay at her home.
Brian Gildea said Ted Turner and Jane Fonda stayed at Twelve Gables, as did Wynton Marsalis, a special treat for the music-loving Gildea.
She was equally thrilled by visits from lesser-known celebrities.
“I remember calling one time and mother saying, ‘You’ll never guess who is staying with us!’ I said, ‘Who?’ She said, ‘Slim Goodbody! Can you believe it?’ She was so excited.”
Slim Goodbody was a 1970s “superhero” promoting health, the alter-ego of entertainer John Burstein, regularly featured on national morning shows and a regular on the children’s show, Captain Kangaroo.
“My mother was a party girl,” Patti said. “One time the Starkville Symphony was scheduled to play at MUW and a few hours before the concert, mother realized that no one had remembered to arrange a reception. She never blinked. She said, ‘Come over to my house.’ She ran home, pulled out vodka and orange juice and we had cheese and saltine crackers. That was the reception. She was like that. Nothing stopped her. She always found a way.”
Mentor and friend
Gildea was adept at recruiting people to serve in whatever arts program she was involved in.
“My mom was a catalyst for other people,” Patti said. “She had an ability to find good people and help them shine, people like Diane Ford.”
When Gildea learned that, like herself, Ford has began playing violin as a schoolgirl, she quickly brought her into the Suzuki program.
“That would have been in about 1989,’’ Ford said. “She took me to the Memphis Suzuki Institution, a weeklong thing where I observed and took classes then started teaching with Trudy.
“Trudy and I played music together for more than 30 years and I worked with her with Suzuki Strings for probably 20 years and wound up taking over the program. Trudy was our founder, mentor and friend and I’ve loved her.”
Imes said that Gildea was a source of support and inspiration for her as she took on an unfamiliar role in the arts community.
“I was in visual arts, but somehow I wound up managing the Young People’s Artist Series, which is performing arts,” Imes said. “(Trudy) was director of the arts council at the time, and we worked beautifully together. It was fun to bounce things off her, get her opinion and advice. This was in the late 1980s. I had known her before then, but you really get to know someone by working with them. We were two totally different personalities. She was good for me and I like to think she felt the same way about me.
“One of the things I’ll remember about her is that she was absolutely determined that every child in the county was going to have the opportunity to see at least one live performance, and she insisted it would be high quality because it might be the only live performance they would ever see.”
Brian Gildea said his mother’s work was her gift to her adopted hometown.
“I would say Miss Trudy was successful in her life because she had hopes and dreams and visions for herself that she realized and achieved through her own dedication and grit and determination,” Brian said. “And what she achieved was as much intended for the community as herself. I think that’s what a successful life looks like.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 26 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 26 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion