Dorothy Lundeman, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Advisory
Posted on Dec 29, 2008 by
Sherry LucasDorothy, age 86, is an accomplished pianist and organist. Her parents purchased a piano for her brother, but it was placed in a corner as he didn't want to learn to play. Dorothy, age four, with the help of the cardboard keyboard which came with the piano, taught herself to play in four or five months. She knew her ABCs and her father had shown her where middle C was on the keyboard. She was still just four years old when she played her first hymn in church, sitting on her father's lap. She only had three years of formal music training. Her other education was in Montana and South Dakota. For grades seven through eleven she attended St. Mary's School for Girls in Springfield, SD, but returned to Rosebud for her senior year due to her mother's illness. She graduated from Rosebud Boarding School. Offered a full scholarship to Juilliard School of Music in New York, she was not allowed to go as her mother said it was too far away. She is not a college graduate but took some college courses. She worked in the library at Sinte Gleske University for several years. Dorothy is the regular pianist and organist for two churches on Rosebud. She also plays for weddings, wakes, funerals and other occasions. A widow, Dorothy has two sons, 10 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.