Rooker, Edgar Quarles (1934-2014) | University of Illinois Archives

Edgar Quarles Rooker (1934-2014) was born in Murfreesboro, TN on April 11, 1934. The son of James Wendel and Nina Quarles Rooker of Murfreesboro, he graduated from Murfreesboro Central High School in 1952. He earned a bachelors of science in music education from George Peabody College in 1956, where he performed clarinet with the College Band. He would later earn a masters of arts degree in music education from Appalachian State University. In 1956 he began teaching music at Kiser Middle School in Greensboro, NC.  He then served two years in the Third Army Band on clarinet. In 1959, he returned to Greensboro public schools, serving once more at Kiser Middle School and becoming the director of bands at Grimeley Senior High School. He would teach in Greensboro Public schools until his retirement in 1991.

In 1988 he became the president of the North Carolina State Bandmasters Association and the president of the American School Band Directors Association. In addition to his service within these state and national organizations, Rooker also performed clarinet with the Atlanta Community Orchestra, the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony for 28 years. In 1991, he received the Award for Excellence by the National College Band Directors Association. In 2002, Rooker was given the Edwin Franko Goldman Award by the ASBDA. In 2008 the Music Educators National Conference presented him with the Lowell Mason Award. Rooker died in Louisville, Kentucky on April 1, 2014.

Pillar Yearbook, Peabody College, 1956, 47.

Richard Benton, "Band Activity Begins in 5th Grade," The Greensboro Record (Greensboro, NC), January 24, 1970, 15.

"Edgar Rooker Receives Award," The Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro, TN) August 16, 1998, 31.

Edgar Rook Obituary online at: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/greensboro/name/edgar-rooker-obituary?id=15181551