So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

AP:

Werner von Trapp, a member of the musical family made famous by the 1965 movie "The Sound of Music," has died, his family said. He was 91.

Von Trapp died Thursday at his home in Waitsfield. The cause of death was not announced. The family confirmed his death, but declined to comment further.

"The Sound of Music" was based loosely on a 1949 book by his stepmother, Maria von Trapp, who died in 1987. It tells the story of an Austrian woman who married a widower with seven children and teaches them music.

Born in 1915 in Zell am See, Austria, von Trapp was the fourth child and second son of Captain Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead. In the movie "The Sound of Music," Werner von Trapp was depicted by the character named Kurt.
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In 1938, von Trapp and his family escaped from Nazi-occupied Austria. After they arrived in New York, the family became popular with concert audiences. The family eventually settled in Vermont.
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Several years later he brought his family back to Vermont and eventually settled on a dairy farm in Waitsfield where he farmed with his family until he retired in 1979. He spent the years after his retirement traveling and weaving, spinning, and crocheting.

Maria von Trapp died in 1987.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Erika, and six children. He is also survived by three sisters and one brother.

Of course, I loved the Sound of Music as a kid--not just because I was in love with the chick who also played Penny on Lost in Space--played a number of songs from the show for piano recitals over the years.  But I note this mainly because Stef and I had our public wedding ceremony at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe.  I remember her maternal grandfather would gleefully tell people that's where we were going to get hitched, although in the end he was unable to make it.

ntodd