On Monday, November 8th, 2021 the Suzuki world, and our Suzuki community in Wilmington, NC, lost an incredible teacher, wonderful friend, and a true inspiration to all Suzuki teachers. Lorraine Westermark was a pioneer for the Suzuki movement in the United States and lived her life according to Dr. Suzuki’s ideals, ideas, and philosophy.
I moved to Wilmington from Ithaca, NY in 1994. I was a brand new teacher moving to a town where I didn’t know a soul. I met Lorraine within a month of moving here, because she was the only other Suzuki teacher in town. Lorraine treated me as her equal despite the fact that she had already been teaching for almost 20 years. She served as my mentor, my colleague and my friend. I truly feel that someone can be all three of those in one. The fact that we both had the same goals for our students and our community bonded us together for almost 30 years.
Lorraine’s students, all 280 + of them, live all over the world. Some are professional musicians, some are Suzuki teachers or Suzuki parents. Others work in healthcare, business, education, and many other fields. One of her former students is a luthier here in Wilmington. Music has always been, and will always be a part of his life. That is something that Lorraine desired for each of her students no matter their chosen career
Lorraine loved her family with every fiber of her being. Her husband, Hans, was the love of her life, her children Hans, Heidi, and Leif were her world, and she talked about her grandchildren with me every chance she got. I knew what they were working on, what they were doing in school, and Lorraine shared all of their musical succeses with all of us. She was fiercely proud of her family as they were of her. Music is a part of all of their lives, either as a full time profession or as a passion. What tremendous gift she gave to her family and to have them all carry on her legacy is truly incredible.
Lorraine was a nurturer. She loved music, she loved her students as her own and they loved her right back. She was like a second mother to so many, myself included, and she will live on in all of us who were fortunate enough to know her and have been a part of all she did to raise fine musicians and outstanding human beings. This world is a better place having had her in it. I know that I will never play Twinkle again without thinking of my dear friend, Lorraine. Rest in peace, sweet friend, and thank you for everything.