Robert Andrus Steinbauer

Robert Andrus Steinbauer was born on the second floor of his family home on May 20, 1926.  He grew up in that house in Niles, Michigan, and met his future wife, June Young, as a child.  He was an only child and influenced by his mother, the first in the family to have a college degree and his father, who played the violin for local dances.  During the depression, he began playing the trumpet and taking piano lessons.  He played trumpet with his father at some dance gigs, but the piano captured his imagination.  Well known in Niles as an accomplished musician, Bob had his own dance band while in High School.  At one point, his future wife, June, introduced “little Bobby Steinbauer” at a school talent show when he played “Rhapsody in Blue”.  Bob and June often laughed about that during their long marriage.

In 1944 after graduating, Bob joined the army and ultimately was stationed at Fort Ord near Monterrey, California.  Because he could type (120 words per minute), the Army thought he was more useful with a typewriter than carrying a rifle.

After the war, Bob enrolled in the University of Michigan, where he completed his undergraduate and master’s work in Music.  Along the way, he married June in 1947 and their marriage lasted until her death in 2014.  Their first home was a trailer and it was here that their first born, Jeff, (1951) came to live.  Bob worked at a school for the blind in South Carolina after graduation.   From there, he moved to Drury College in Springfield, Missouri.  While in Missouri, his daughter Martha (1955) was born (although she was born in Niles)

He started working on his doctorate and finished that degree in 1958.   He then took a position in the piano department (of which he became the chief) at Wichita State University in 1959. It was while at Wichita that many lifelong connections with students formed.   Bob and June were committed to their family and had both sets of parents living with them in Wichita. They also were committed to civil rights and worked to stabilize their neighborhood during the 60s that became a model of racial integration during difficult times.

In 1969, Bob left Wichita for a position at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.  Living in Las Vegas was fun, but Kansas State called and he returned to chair the music department at KSU in 1970.  There, he built a strong community endowment for the arts and chaired the growing department until 1986 when he “retired” to Florida.  Soon he was teaching part time at the University of Central Florida and eventually moved back to Texas to be closer to Jeff (Houston) and Martha (Dallas).  Belton was the ideal spot and he enjoyed the next years of his life active in local music programs. He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church and joined the First Presbyterian Church in Belton shortly after moving to central Texas.

Loved and admired by his students and colleagues, Bob cast a long shadow in his career.  He traveled the world promoting music education and achieved a lifetime achievement award from the Music Teachers National Conference in 2003.    His daughter Martha, his son Jeff, and grandchildren Ben (Austin), Emily (Austin) and Henry (Houston) survive Bob.

In recognition of his faithful service to community and church, the family requests in lieu of flowers that you donate to the First Presbyterian Church of Belton 2500 Church Street Belton, Texas 76513 or the charity of your choice.