Singleton, Ira Custer, 1920-2006. Ira Custer Singleton, Jr.
Ira Custer Singleton, Jr., 85, passed away on Monday, January 9, 2006 at his home. The son of Ira C. Singleton and Catherine Adaline Reed Singleton, he was born on September 24, 1920 on the kitchen table in an eighteenth century stone house still standing at the corner of Main Street and Whitehall Road in Jeffersonville, Pa. He was the husband of Janet Jones Singleton with whom he had celebrated 55 years of marriage.
He graduated from Norristown High School where he was student conductor of the marching band and orchestra, Vice President of the National Honor Society, and President of the Student Council. He put himself through West Chester State College by playing trombone and double bass in dance bands, locally and on the road. He also played with the Main Line and Germantown Symphonies.
He was drafted in World War 11 and served in the Military Police, a 4.2 Chemical Mortar Battalion, and finally in the Office of Strategic Services in which he was sent to China and parachuted behind Japanese lines in central China on an intelligence mission. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War and was assigned to teach Military Intelligence in the Army General School at Fort Riley, Kansas.
He earned a Masters degree at Temple University and a PhD at New York University. He taught at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia and Rittenhouse Junior High School in Norristown, then at New York University, the University of Cincinnati, the College-Conservatory of Music of Cincinnati, the University of Texas, and, for the last nineteen years before his retirement, at West Chester University as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the School of Music. He also served for one summer as a Visiting Professor at the Guangdong Education College in Guangzhou, China.
He left teaching only twice during his career, once as Copy Chief and Account Executive with Humbert & Jones Advertising in New York City, and once as Vice President and Managing Editor of Silver Burdett Company, a subsidiary of Time Inc. He was the author of a college textbook and a high school music text, and the Chief Music Editor of the basal music series Making Music Your Own. During recording sessions for this series, he associated with many outstanding musicians, including Tony Mottola, Urbie Greene, Doc Severinson, Osie Johnson, and David Nadien.
He was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, an Honor Society in Education, a Professional Life Honorary Member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and is included in the 1973 edition of Outstanding Educators of America. He was President of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, President of the West Chester Chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Retired Faculty, President of the Board of Directors of Meals on Wheels of Chester County, and served as a volunteer Tutor in the Chester County Library Adult Literacy Program. He was inducted into the Norristown High School Hall of Fame, chosen a Distinguished Alumnus of West Chester State College and presented with the Distinguished Service Award and with the Certificate of Honor by the General Alumni Association of Temple University.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Jeffrey and Kenneth R. Singleton, and three grandchildren, Matthew, Emily, and Kenneth I.
A Funeral Service will take place at 11:00AM on Friday, January 13, 2006 at Central Presbyterian Church, 100 W. Uwchlan Avenue, (Rt. 113), Downingtown. Family and friends may call from 7:00PM to 9:00PM on Thursday, January 12, 2006 at the James J. Terry Funeral Home, 736 E. Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown. Interment will be private.
Memorial contributions may be made to Neighborhood Hospice, 795 E. Marshall Street, North Hills Medical Building-Suite 204, West Chester, PA 19380.