William E. Shemberger Music Scholarship Fund

Bill Shemberger is best remembered for racing the back roads of northern Indiana peddling band instruments. Though born into an Elkhart family of modest means, his parents insisted their children have a music education. Bill played the trombone; his sister, Hazel, played the piano. Their father worked for the railroad so Bill traveled free to Chicago for trombone lessons. By the time he was in high school, Bill was playing in dance bands all over northern Indiana. When his father’s health failed and Bill became his parents’ sole support, he attended school by day, worked nights in a bakery and played with bands on weekends.