SPRINGFIELD - Isabella Erickson, 96, died June 10, 2015. She was born Jan. 10, 1919, to Antonietta Cassanetti and Nicholas Perrotta in Bennington. She married Virgil Erickson in 1962 in Bennington. He predeceased her June 11, 1981.
Their married life was spent in Springfield, where she taught vocal music in Springfield Public Schools for 37 years at the elementary and high school levels. Before her marriage, she began her career in Essex Junction and New York City Schools, where she taught vocal music for six years.
She was an avid tennis player her entire life, still playing into her 80s. She continued to enjoy watching tournaments on television until recently.
Mrs. Erickson attended St. Francis de Sales School in Bennington and graduated in 1940 from Bennington College. Later, she received her master's degree in music from Columbia University. Her community activities included staff pianist for Vermont Symphony Orchestra in the 1940s, a board member of the Vermont Music Education Association, directed Twin States Orchestra in the 1940s, pianist/organist at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Springfield for more than 25 years, pianist for the Community Chorus and Community Players in Springfield, pianist for the Springfield Senior Songsters, member of the Windsor Trio and a regular performer at the Springfield Adult Day.
She is survived by several nieces and nephews; numerous great nieces and nephews; and great-great nieces and nephews.
Committal services will take place at 11 a.m. Monday, June 15, 2015, at Park Lawn Cemetery in Bennington.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Mrs. Erickson's memory may be made to the Springfield High School Music Department through the office of Mahar & Son Funeral Home, 628 Main Street, Bennington, VT 05201.
Guestbook condolences may be made at www.maharandsonfuneralhome.net.
Published in Rutland Herald on June 12, 2015
F C Bock
Note-worthy tribute to teacher
Rutland Herald | January 19, 2017
By SUSAN SMALLHEER
STAFF WRITER
SPRINGFIELD — For 37 years, Isabella Perrotta Erickson taught Springfield students to sing.
Erickson, who died in June 2015 at the age of 96, taught choral music at Springfield High School for decades and accompanied her singing students, as well as the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, on the piano.
After she died, the Erickson Perrotta family had asked that any memorial donations be made to the music department at Springfield High School,
And now Jim Chlebak, music director at the high school, wants to put that money — and more — toward a lasting tribute to Erickson.
Chlebak said Wednesday the school system had purchased a marimba — a percussion instrument — from the Netherlands, and he was asking Erickson’s supporters and former students to offer stories and cash contributions in her memory.
Chlebak said he never got to know Erickson, but, he said, the checks from the funeral home after her death were a nice surprise.
He said he didn’t want to use the $450 in memorial gifts to buy something “expendable,” such as sheet music or reeds for woodwind instruments.
“I wanted something lasting, and not in the hands of just one child, and we came up with the idea of a marimba,” Chlebak said.
“It’s a little bit exotic,” he said. “It will put the music department a little bit ahead of where it is.”
He said it fit, from what people and former students have told him about Erickson.
“That’s what she did, every day, she pushed everybody,” he said. “She was a consummate musician. She
had elegance, and she was not easy with praise. She expected a lot. I think a marimba is a fitting tribute.”
The instrument cost $2,700, and Chlebak said it was a “workhorse” and not a delicate instrument that had to be kept in a climate-controlled room.
Erickson was a singer and a pianist, leading the Springfield High School chorus and choirs, as well as the group that later became The Madrigals. She also was the accompanist, and she also was accompanist for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
Erickson was a native of Bennington and a graduate of Bennington College. She later received her master’s degree in performance studies at Columbia University in New York. She started her career in Springfield, eventually marrying and settling into a career of teaching Springfield children how to sing.
Karen Engdahl, of Springfield, a pianist and music teacher, said she succeeded Erickson as the accompanist for community groups.
“She had really big shoes to fill,” Engdahl said. “She set a very high standard. She was very strong and very forthright. She kept me humble.”
Chlebak said fundraising would be held from Jan 10, Erickson’s birthday, until June 10, the anniversary of her death, to help with the purchase of the 4.3-octave marimba.
The marimba will be featured in the Springfield High School’s spring music concert May 18, he said. Erickson’s name, and the donors, will be included in a plaque on the instrument.
Donations and stories can be sent to the SHS Erickson Music Fund, SpringfieldHighSchool, 303 South Street, Springfield, VT 05156.
susan.smallheer @rutlandherald.com