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RICK GAGNE
1961 - 2014

The tunes in this section of webABC are all compositions of Rick Gagne, family man, multi-instrumentalist, and pursuer of many interests.

I was acquainted with Rick primarily via interactions on the IRTRAD mailing list, but I did have the opportunity of meeting him in person and playing a few tunes with him on the Naushon ferry landing in Woods Hole many years ago. I don't recall what we played but I know we enjoyed it (as did the ferry passengers).

I knew he had subsequently moved south but then we lost track of each other. I did find out that he was seriously ill but didn't realize he had died. Ar dheis Dé a raibh a h-anam (may his soul be at God's right hand).

His obituary and a tribute are below.

A minor mystery is how this particular file of tunes evidently spent many years on my laptop without my noticing it.  In the course of a once-every-five-year file cleanup I came perilously close to discarding it. Fortunately the Angel in Charge of Good Tunes prevented my doing anything so stupid!

It was in a folder that I regularly visit, so I don't know how I overlooked it for so long. AND - I came across it on Rick's birthday (September 5th). Hmmm . . . .

Anyway - enjoy the tunes. If you find a few you like, share them. That's absolutely what Rick would want.

There's an old Kerry tune with the unusual title of "A Prayer is Better than a Tune". In this case, the tune IS the prayer. No better way of remembering Rick that I can think of.

- Bill Black
Sept. 2019
click here for a list of tunes on this site (and links to notation / ABC / sound files)

OBITUARY from the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine

Rick Gagné ’83 died at home in Clinton, Mississippi, on May 28, 2014, nine weeks after his diagnosis with late-stage cancer. At Dartmouth Rick was an English major and a member of Foley House. He worked in Sanborn Library and silkscreened posters at the Hopkins Center design studio. He took two years off in the middle of college, immersing himself in literature, Irish music, and the study of colonial gravestones. This latter interest (sparked by walks to breakfast through the College cemetery) ultimately led to a Ph.D. in folklore at Indiana University, and he continued to explore the place of early gravestones in frontier American culture. In 1981, along with classmates Kelley Bishop, Carrick Eggleston, and Tom McKean, Rick formed the band DunCreagan, which played for 13 years in venues ranging from Collis to Switzerland. Rick continued to play and compose Irish music for the rest of his life. In 1985 he married Elise Morse ’83; their children were born in 1993 and 1997. He was a devoted husband and rejoiced in fatherhood. Rick’s intellectual energy was matched only by his passion for educational quality and equality. In 2006 he joined the English department at Tougaloo College, where he was both a demanding and encouraging teacher. Ten days before his death he attended commencement to congratulate the graduating English majors. Survivors include parents Richard ’51 and Margery, siblings Charles and Katharine ’89, parents-in-law Tony ’52 and Dorothy, sisters-in-law Anne and Sophie, wife Elise and children David and Katharine.

TRIBUTE


R.I.P. Rick Gagne
3 Comments

When Hubs and I moved to Jackson, MS, in 2006, all I could think about was getting back to Knoxville. I missed the mountains and the good beer. I missed my family and friends. I wasn’t prepared for the deep-south, Southern Baptist conservatism of Jackson, and I was terribly lonely.

I’m not much of a church goer, but I needed some way to meet people, so we decided to visit Jackson’s small Unitarian Universalist church, where we met Rick and Elise. Both taught within the English department at Tougaloo College in Jackson. Rick was a folklorist, master bread-maker, and key member of Jackson’s Irish/folk music scene.

. . .

I fondly remember him playing banjo at Celtic Fest and at Fenian’s Pub. Such experiences made me realize I could live happily in Jackson, and that I could find people whose company I enjoyed.

Rick and Elise are the kind of parents I strive to become. They prompted their children to be inquisitive, to go outside and look around. I remember visiting one evening for dinner. In an age when flatscreen TVs were on the rise, they owned one small, boxy TV only capable of playing videos and DVDs. They didn’t have cable. Not Luddites, they instead seemed driven create a home-life conducive to exploration, creativity, and interaction. I remember their children (now in high school and college) as bright, both intellectually and personally.

Rick encouraged me from afar at every step of my doctoral studies, responding to Facebook posts I made regarding my studies and dissertation. One of our last interactions–as I worked feverishly to complete a draft of my dissertation–was “FINISH! NOW!” I needed this sort of prompting to gut through pages and pages of editing.

Just nine weeks after being diagnosed with advanced-stage bladder cancer, Rick died on May 28th.

Be at peace, Rick, in this grand universe of ours.

Thanks to Andrea Brodie and Gary Newman for their assistance.