Blaine Ellis Edlefsen

August 24, 1930 - December 22, 2013

Blaine Ellis Edlefsen, 83, of Champaign, died on Sunday, Dec 22, 2013 in Draper, UT, of cancer. He was born August 24, 1930, in Soda Springs, Idaho, the son of Jesse Abner Edlefsen and Ethel Rowley Edlefsen. He married Jean Josephine Harris August 29, 1952 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He is survived by five children and 10 grandchildren, Steven Jonn and Jo-Ann and their children Kirsten, Alexander, and Natasha of El Segundo, California; Paul Jay and Sharon and their son Nathaniel of Salt Lake City, Utah; Erik Blaine of Champaign; Miriam Sara Edlefsen Ballejos and her husband Ernest of Tacoma, Washington; and Kathryn Ann Edlefsen Enniss, her husband Ryan and their six children, Rachel, Joseph, Alayna, Jack, Michael and Sarah, all of Draper, Utah. Also living is Blaine’s brother, Lynn Edlefsen and his wife Nan of Chubbuck, Idaho. Blaine was raised in Driggs, Idaho, and from an early age learned to sing from his mother. He played saxophone and clarinet in school bands and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT in 1952. He completed his Master of Music degree in Music Literature and Performance on the oboe from Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, New York in 1953. From 1953-1961, he was an Instructor of Music at BYU and performed with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. From 1959-61, he again attended the Eastman School of Music, earning his Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance and Pedagogy of the Oboe in 1966. He became an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois School of Music in 1961, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1994. During the summer of 1965 he held what is believed to have been the first oboe camp in the US. His film, Making the American Scrape Oboe Reed, made in 1969 was the first to illustrate the art of oboe reed making. He published courses of study for students learning the oboe at the beginning, intermediate and advanced-intermediate level for Belwin Mills. He was a member of the Illinois Woodwind Quintet and performed in the Champaign-Urbana, Springfield and Kankakee Sympony Orchestras and the Univerity of Illinois Sinfonia da Camera as principal oboist. He was also a founding member of the International Double Reed Society. He was a versatile musician playing clarinet, flute saxophone and English horn as well as the oboe. His hobbies include travel, italic hand writing, bridge, reading about exploration and primitive cultures; mnemonics and awareness; physical fitness including weight lifting and tai chi, in which he has a blue belt. He was a loving husband, father, brother and friend who will be greatly missed. Funeral services will be held in Tetonia, Idaho at the LDS Church, 209 S. Main Street on Monday, Dec. 30th. Visitation will be from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, with a memorial service at 1 pm. He will be laid to rest in Cache Clawson Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to your favorite charity.