On Oct. 7, the Durango community lost longtime resident Marie Bedard. With the help and support of her older brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Sandy Melchior, the staff at Katzin Music and those in Durango who knew her, she was able to live a rich and full 70 years.
Bedard could be regularly seen talking and laughing with friends at City Market and Durango Community Recreation Center, where she took art classes for years, and she rarely missed a Bar D Wranglers performance in town.
Her guitar teacher at Katzin Music, Terry Double, said that she wasn’t merely friendly; she seemed to know everyone wherever she went. She was an exceptionally warm person and had an uncanny ability to make friends wherever she was.
Double became close with Bedard and gave her music lessons every Friday for 20 years. She and Double wrote tunes that made fun of the teachers and staff at Katzin, and were working on their third “album” together. The student-teacher duo was truly one of a kind and he knew her better than anyone, Double said.
Their friendship extended beyond the lessons, and he was the person she came to when she needed a ride somewhere or wanted to talk to someone, which was easy because she lived around the corner from the music shop.
“I had to remember to bring home a memento for her every time I traveled somewhere,” Double said. “And, after the one time I didn’t remember, I never forgot her birthday, and I always took her out to celebrate ... We were good pals.”
To honor her memory, Katzin Music named a scholarship for Bedard: The Marie Bedard Memorial Fund, to help fund lessons for those who can’t afford them.
Contributions may be made at the store at the Crossroads Center, 1316 Main Ave., Suite D.
fstone@durangoherald.com
