Music Man Karl Fehrle Brought Joy To Countless Fans: Longtime Town Band Member Passes At 103

CHATHAM – Karl Fehrle is being remembered as a gentleman who brought his gentle saxophone sound to countless town band concerts on the Lower Cape over the course of decades. He died last week, about two weeks after his 103rd birthday.

“He attended rehearsals right through the end of June,” Chatham Band Musical Director Tom Jahnke said. “He never retired. We were hoping he would rejoin the band after recovering from his health issue.” Mr. Fehrle passed away several weeks after suffering a stroke.

“Karl was a musical mentor to everyone he played with. He came alive at rehearsals and concerts,” Jahnke recalled. “He gave pointers to the leaders of the bands about tempos and interpretation of the music — whether we wanted them or not,” he said.

In addition to the Chatham Band, Mr. Fehrle was a dedicated member of the Harwich Town Band and the Brewster Band, from which he officially retired in December.

“Karl was a very fine man, friend and musician,” Brewster Band President Steven Stranger said. “We sat next to each other in the Brewster Band for 25 years, estimated to be over 750 rehearsals and 300 performances together.”

Mr. Fehrle was fond of Big Band music and played clarinet during his World War II service in the U.S. Army, when the songs of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and other greats were contemporary pop tunes. A New Jersey native, he made a career as an accountant, filing his own taxes until the time of his death. After his stint in the Army, Mr. Fehrle turned away from music for decades.

Having vacationed on the Cape since 1968, he and his wife moved to Chatham permanently in 1987.

“I always find it amazing that the first time Karl wanted to be a member of the Chatham Band many years ago, he was turned down because he was not a full-time resident of Chatham,” Jahnke said. He was able to play in Harwich, though, and quickly regained his chops on the alto sax. Mr. Fehrle sight-read his music, rarely improvised, and preferred to play as part of the ensemble rather than as a soloist — but his solos were fan-favorites at band concerts.

“I’ll personally remember Karl for his humbleness and extreme talent,” Jahnke said. “Every time he played a solo at a Chatham Band concert, he received a standing ovation. He was always so surprised and wondered, ‘What’s all the fuss about?’” His solo in “Over the Rainbow” was a particular favorite, with the melancholy music matching Mr. Fehrle’s gentle tone.

Mr. Fehrle was one of the founding members of the Brewster Band, Stranger said.

“He was a mentor to me when I joined the band in 1999. I had only been playing for a few years and this was the first band that I joined,” he said. “I was very nervous, but Karl conversed with me each week, so it helped me settle into things.” The two became lifelong friends, always chatting before performances. “We would sit down to warm up before a rehearsal or a concert and he would play a couple of notes, then declared that the horn worked, and gave a chuckle,” Stranger recalled.

Over the years, Mr. Fehrle mentored countless musicians. Playing in bands added greatly to his life.

Mr. Fehrle was the grand marshal of this year’s Chatham Fourth of July parade, but that wasn’t his first such honor. In 2020, his daughters arranged a parade to mark his 99th birthday. It was at the peak of the pandemic, and Mr. Fehrle was isolated at home. He sat in a beach chair in his driveway as a seemingly endless parade of honking cars drove by, with friends and wellwishers led by police cruisers. His fellow musicians played an impromptu “Happy Birthday” to honor their bandmate.

“He loved the social aspect of it, even more so after his wife Dottie passed away about seven years ago,” Stranger said. “We were all his friends.”

A few of his bandmates will play once again during an open celebration of Mr. Fehrle’s life, scheduled for Sept. 7 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Atwood Museum at 347 Stage Harbor Rd. in Chatham. All are invited.