Charles Frederick Thiele^[1]

1884 - 1954  (70 years)

• Name	Charles Frederick Thiele
  Born	1884	Of, New York City, New York   [2]
  Gender	Male
  Business	Waterloo Metal Stampings, Waterloo, , Ontario, Canada
  Business	Waterloo Music Company Ltd., Waterloo, , Ontario, Canada
  Business	Abt 1935	3 Regina St. N., Waterloo, Ontario
  	Waterloo Music
  	Waterloo Music started by C.F. Thiele, largest distributor of music and instruments in Canada
  Interesting	business, life story, music
  Name	C. F. Thiele
  Residence	22 Dupont St. E., Waterloo, Ontario
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-58924
  Died	3 Feb 1954	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2, 3]
  Buried	Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  Person ID	I58924	Generations
  Last Modified	11 Jun 2024

  
  

  Family	Louise V. Freeman,   b. 1885, Of, New York City, New York ,   d. 1933  (Age 48 years)
  Children	1. Caroline Frances Thiele,   b. 1904, New York City, New York, USA. ,   d. 1993  (Age 89 years)
  Last Modified	11 Jun 2024
  Family ID	F15259	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos		Charles F. Thiele Charles F. Thiele was bandmaster of the Waterloo Musical Society Band from 1919 to 1949. He died in February 1954. (photograph from Waterloo Public Library)
  		Charles F. Thiele wife Louise and daughter Caroline from Waterloo Public Library

  
  

• Notes

  C. F. Thiele, 70 Waterloo's Noted Bandsman, Dies Canada's leading band promoter, Charles F. Thiele, died early today at the K-W Hospital. Mr. Thiele was director of the Waterloo Musical Society band for more than 30 years. He was 70. He retired as bandmaster in 1951. Ill for nearly a year, he was confined to hospital for some months. Bandmaster, composer, music publisher and industrialist, Mr. Thiele was singularly successful both as a business man and musician. On Concert Stage After a career on the concert stage the duties of one position, that of Waterloo bandmaster, did not offer sufficient outlet for his unbounded energy and promotional ability. Former professional bandsman (a cornetist) and director of New York bands at various times, Mr. Thiele had spent some years on the concert stage and had travelled widely before coming to Waterloo in 1919. The Thiele Concert Company, which he organized and directed, included Mrs. Thiele, talented cornetist, and their daughter Carolyn (Mrs. Wilfrid Bender) equally talented saxophonist. Shortly after he became established in Waterloo Mr. Thiele started a music business at his home. When business outgrew his home he opened a second-floor office on King street. Industrial Start The manufacture of music stands started him in industry. He took over a small section of an old industrial plant in Waterloo and developed the business that was to become the Waterloo Metal Stampings. When the Waterloo Curling Club disbanded and offered its centrally-located rink for sale, Mr. Thiele bought and reconstructed it as required for manufacturing purposes, erected a new modern front with office space and combined his two enterprises under one roof. But the centralization was not complete. For years bandsmen had climbed two long flights of stairs to a third-floor hall on King street. When his businesses had become well established in their new location, Mr. Thiele constructed a second floor over his one-storey plant and offices to provide a spacious, modern band auditorium believed to be the finest in Canada. Organized Festival In the field of music he combined musicianship and showmanship. When the Waterloo Musical Society observed its 50th anniversary in 1932, Mr. Thiele organized a colorful program in celebration of the event. That was the Waterloo band festival, Canada's greatest band event. From 15 bands and 80 solo contestants in 1932, the festival has grown to an event in which 60 bands take part. Individual entries exceeded the 1,000 mark last year. Bands from as far as Kiel, Wis., and Kamloops, B.C., have attended. While Mr. Thiele was doing this for Waterloo, he was also doing more for bands and band music in Ontario and Canada than anyone else had done before. Formed Associations In 1920 he organized the Ontario Bandsmen's Association. The association has conducted band contests at the Canadian National Exhibition since that time. Mr. Thiele was president of the association. When bandmasters met for the first Waterloo festival, he was instrumental in starting the Canadian Bandmasters Association of which he had also been president. Annually he was host to the Canadian bandmasters for the midwinter meeting to which he brought leading U.S. and Canadian band and band instrument teachers and authorities to deliver lectures. A music camp long had been another dream. It became a reality in 1946 following the Second World War when the Waterloo Music Camp was established at Bamberg (Bandberg) 12 miles west of Waterloo. It was dedicated to the memory of Canadian bandsmen who gave their lives in the two world wars. [See Waterloo Historical Society Volume 92 - 2004, "Bandberg Recalled," pg 189; three photos and captions.] Accordion Events The camp resounded to two accordion festivals and one introductory camp session attended by 60 boys but Mr. Thiele's illness arrested development of the camp project. The manufacture of instruments was another objective. Mr. Thiele did engage in the manufacture of drums and other percussion instruments. Late in 1951 he gave signal recognition to services of key employees of his firms. Twelve men and women who had served for eight to 25 years received shares in the two companies, the Waterloo Music Company, Ltd., and the Waterloo Metal Stampings. He employed as high as 150 in the two enterprises. Waterloo Music Company school music books, approved by provincial departments of education, are used in schools from coast to coast. Mr. Thiele was honored by many band groups. He was a member of the Ontario Trumpet Band Association and an honorary member of the Quebec, Wisconsin and North Dakota Band Associations. He was an honorary member of the K-W Rotary Club and a director of the Canada Health and Accident Assurance Corp. A member of the Waterloo Masonic Lodge, AF and AM, he was also a member of Kitchener chapter, RAM Valette Preceptory, Knights Templar and Mocha Temple, AAONMS. He is survived by one son Arnold Thiele of Elmira; one daughter, Mrs. Wilfrid (Carolyn) Bender, Bamberg; two grandchildren; one brother, George, and a sister, Miss Lily Thiele of New York. The body is at the Schreiter Sandrock funeral home where the funeral will be conducted Saturday at 2 o'clock in charge of Waterloo Masonic Lodge. Entombment will be in Woodland Mausoleum. Kitchener-Waterloo Record 1954 (possibly 3 Feb 1954) ________________________________________ A piece of local music history to shut down after almost a century in business KITCHENER - St. John's Music , a fixture on the local music scene for almost a century, is set to close. The store, which sells and services a variety of instruments, will close July 7, some 92 years after it began as the Waterloo Music Company. That company was founded in 1922 by Charles F. Thiele, a man who was legendary in Waterloo's history as a mecca for brass bands. For most of its lifetime, the store was at its original location at Regina and Erb streets in Waterloo, until it moved in July 2011 to the Tannery building at Joseph and Victoria streets. The store, which was bought by the Winnipeg-based St. John's Music in 2004, dropped the Waterloo Music name after the move to Kitchener. The store's long history is commemorated at the Tannery location with a somewhat battered brick-red sign from the original Waterloo Music site..... The company and its founder also loomed large in the history of the local music scene. Thiele was a New York native who immigrated to Canada to escape anti-German sentiment after the First World War. He headed the Waterloo Music Society and founded the enormously popular Waterloo Band Festival, Canada's biggest, which attracted tens of thousands of visitors every summer right up until the late 1950s. Thiele started a summer camp in Bamberg for budding musicians, calling it Bandburg, and was famous for giving away instruments and free music lessons to those who couldn't afford to pay.... Waterloo Region Record 2 May 2014 by Catherine Thompson _________________________ Motivated by music: Iconic composer Howard Cable was still writing at 95 Waterloo Region Record By Valerie Hill Howard Cable of Toronto Born: Dec. 15, 1920 in Toronto Died: March 30, 2016 of age related illness It is ironic that legendary composer Howard Cable's last commissioned work - a tribute to C.F. Thiele - would end up being performed as his own tribute after Howard passed away in his sleep March 30. On May 1, the Waterloo Concert Band, under the direction of Trevor Wagler, will perform "A musical tribute to a legendary music man." The piece was commissioned by the concert band as a tribute to Thiele, who died in 1954 and is credited with being the first musician to bring Canadian band music onto the world stage. Howard was a mere 94 years old and still actively composing music, writing everything in longhand when he was given the commission that he completed on deadline in December.... https://www.kitchenerpost.ca/whatson-story/6500004-motivated-by-music-iconic-composer-howard-cable-was-still-writing-at-95/

  
  

• Sources

  [S4] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, 021861-23. Wilfred Gladstone BENDER, 24, printer, Kitchener, Waterloo, s/o John Peter BENDER & Elizabeth ROEDDING married Caroline Frances THIELE, 19, New York N.Y., Waterloo, d/o Charles F. THIELE & Louise S. FREEMAN, witn: Arthur ROEDDING of Kitchener & Cora SCHEIFELE of Waterloo, 15 September 1923 in Waterloo [S87] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Woodland CC#4510 Internet Link . (picture of harp) / CHARLES F. THIELE / 1884 - 1954 / Semper Fidelis. [S74] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Kitchener-Waterloo Record (1948-1994), 3 feb 1954.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1884 - Of, New York City, New York Business - - Waterloo Metal Stampings, Waterloo, , Ontario, Canada Business - - Waterloo Music Company Ltd., Waterloo, , Ontario, Canada Business - Waterloo Music - Abt 1935 - 3 Regina St. N., Waterloo, Ontario Residence - - 22 Dupont St. E., Waterloo, Ontario Died - 3 Feb 1954 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth