Irene Bland dies at 86

Irene Bland, who gave the gift of music to generations of South Orange County children, died July 19. She was 86.

Bland, who taught music for 55 years in schools and privately, succumbed to pneumonia, the result of a rapid onset of acute leukemia, at her daughter’s home in Huntington Beach, surrounded by her family.

The longtime Laguna Beach resident taught music for 20 years at Legion Hall and another 20, starting in 1984, at the Ole Hansen Beach Club in San Clemente.

Some of her students were the children and grandchildren of former students, about 165 a week, ages 3- to 10-years old, until she retired two years ago. And up until earlier this month, she taught private recorder lessons to about 20 students a week.

Bland was born May 5, 1920. She grew up in Green Lake, Wisc., where she attended school. She held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin’s School of Music, which she attended on a scholarship, graduating in 1942. She also attended the Dalcroze School of Music for 2 ½ years while her husband, Robert, was stationed in New York during World War II.

The Blands had four children, two of them born before the couple moved to California in the early 1950s. They divorced in 1976.

When she first came to California, Bland taught music at USC and later taught teachers how to teach music to children in UC Irvine Extension classes.

“I met Irene about 29 years ago, if my memory is correct, when I began teaching elementary school music in Saddleback Valley,” Diana Landis said. “A class was offered on Music and Movement for Children through UCI and my more experienced colleagues highly recommended enrolling.

“Possibly our entire music staff in the district turned out to experience the wisdom and magic of this nimble, sparkly-eyed, gray-haired muse.”

Bland led the teacher-students in folksongs and rounds in a clear soprano, accompanying herself on autoharp or piano, Landis said.

Landis continued taking classes from Bland. She also sat in on the children’s classes Bland taught in Laguna and was the recipient of her waiting list when her mentor retired from teaching in San Clemente two years ago.

“She came on this earth to spread peace and love and view each human being as precious and good,” Landis said.

Bland made an exception for President Bush, according to Eleanor Henry, Sawdust Festival exhibitor and long-time participant in the Saturday peace vigils at Main Beach.

“Irene was always proper, so she always apologized when she called him a bad name,” Henry said.

Bland was an original member of the Laguna Beach Peace Vigil that started in the 1970s. She re-upped in 2002, when the administration began touting a war against Iraq. Bland painted the signs hoisted by the other participants.

“We had our vigil for her last Saturday,” Henry said. “There were flowers and a big picture of her and a lot of people stopped and said, ‘Oh, I remember her.’

“She was a wonderful music teacher, and she had a huge following.”

Bland is survived by daughter, Alison Hall, and her husband, John Hall, and their daughter Dr. Juliana Gebb, a physician in New York; son Steven Bland; daughter Holly Derheim and her husband, Lynn, and their children, Tyler and Sarah Rose; and daughter Margaret Dvorak.

The family is planning a memorial service on Aug. 20 in Laguna Beach.

“In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Irene Bland Memorial Fund at Waldorf School, 2350 Canyon Drive, Costa Mesa, the school her grandchildren attend and her favorite charity,” Holly Derheim said.

For more information or an invitation to the service, e-mail DrAlisonHall@aol.com or call (714) 276-9143 and leave your name, mailing and e-mail addresses.