J. Richard Burkholder helped establish Mount Union’s long-running tradition of school music. A February 1943 newspaper column reported that he had supervised music in the Mount Union schools for nine years, independently placing the beginning of his local music service in 1934. The same report recorded that he earned his pilot wings on Thanksgiving Day 1942 at Mount Union Airport, where Brinton H. Hamman and flight instructor Lester Gashaw presented them. Contemporary newspaper coverage later identifies J. Richard as director of the Mount Union High School band by 1946.
Under his direction, the band represented Mount Union beyond the community. An August 1946 report praised its appearance in Chambersburg’s Old Home Week parade, where members first wore blue-and-gold uniforms donated by Simpson-Hunt American Legion Post. His instruction also helped students reach advanced musical opportunities. Mount Union’s Martha Jean “Martye” Awkerman studied under Burkholder before earning first-chair solo cornet honors at the Pennsylvania Schools State Band Competition and a scholarship to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
A granddaughter’s family history
Gretchen Burkholder Crouse, J. Richard’s granddaughter and a Mount Union music educator, shared the following family history with BrickTownPA. Her recollections, received October 6, 2026, add the story of a family whose teaching and music reached across generations.
From a one-room school to forty years of teaching
According to Gretchen, her grandfather attended a one-room school before graduating from Chambersburg High School in 1930. He studied music at Penn State, graduated in 1934, and immediately began teaching in Mount Union. He retired in 1974. The family’s 1934 starting date agrees with the contemporary newspaper account of his nine years of service in 1943.
His own musical life began as a child playing trombone in the New Franklin Silver Cornet Band. Gretchen describes his later work with the Penn State Blue Band, the Penn Statesmen, professional groups at the Delaware Water Gap, and numerous local bands. She credits him with helping begin the annual Huntingdon County band, orchestra, and chorus events in 1938, 1939, and 1940, respectively. He also served as a guest conductor and festival host, with connections to the community bands of Mapleton and Mount Union.
Music beyond the school day
Gretchen dates his organization and direction of The Big Band Sound to 1972. At St. Luke Lutheran Church in Mount Union, he served for many years as choir director and orchestra conductor. His Burkholder Music Service supplied instruments, repairs, music, and lessons to area students and adults.
She also remembers his interests beyond music: piloting airplanes, building and flying remote-control models, reading, and fishing both locally and in Canada.
A family of educators and musicians
His first wife, E. Christine Chilcote Burkholder, was a Juniata College graduate who, Gretchen says, taught at Mount Union from 1932 until her death in 1964. Her subjects included Latin, Spanish, and French. J. Richard later married Joanna Beck Burkholder, a West Chester music-education graduate. Gretchen recalls Joanna as a general music teacher who retired in 1974 and also gave piano lessons.
Gretchen describes J. Richard’s three children and their own connections to music and education:
- R. Eric Burkholder, the oldest, played clarinet with the Altoona Symphony.
- Christine F. Burkholder graduated from Captain Jack High School in 1960, earned a music-education degree at Penn State, and pursued graduate music studies at the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. She taught instrumental music in Mount Union, then in England, and later at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Seton Hill College in Greensburg.
- Lance Burkholder, Gretchen’s father, served on the school board for 14 years, including eight as president. His musical experience included the Marine Drum & Bugle Corps and trombone performances with the Altoona Symphony, Big Band Sound, and community ensembles.
Gretchen’s mother, Mary Alice Jones Burkholder, grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Mansfield University. She began teaching at Mount Union in 1972 and retired in 2004. According to Gretchen, she started in fourth grade, spent most of her career teaching sixth grade, and concluded with work in reading and gifted education. She also played French horn with the Altoona Symphony and other local ensembles.
Gretchen Burkholder Crouse graduated from Mount Union in 1999 and West Chester University in 2003. She began teaching at Mount Union in 2004 and, in her October 2026 account, said she had remained there ever since. She remembers several generations taking part in Big Band Sound, including her grandfather, Grandma Jo, Uncle Rick, her father, and herself.
Family contribution: Gretchen Burkholder Crouse, granddaughter of J. Richard Burkholder; family recollections and personal teaching history shared with BrickTownPA, received October 6, 2026.
Sources: The Daily News, February 19, 1943, p. 12; Altoona Mirror, August 14, 1946, p. 12; Martha Jean “Martye” Awkerman biography; Gretchen Burkholder Crouse, public statement to the Mount Union Area School Board, community-provided transcript; J. Richard Burkholder memorial.
Photographs of a musical life
These three source slides come from Bryan Donaldson’s Mount Union Band and Music, uploaded August 26, 2014. The upload date is not the date of the historical photographs. Identifications follow the slide captions.
Yearbook photograph
