Donald Bruce Baggett passed away at Crystal Ridge Care Center in Grass Valley on January 23, 2022. He was 85.
The immediate family gathered for a graveside burial at Live Oak Cemetery in Live Oak, California. They invite the community to celebrate Don’s life at a summer memorial service—the time and venue still to be determined.
Don was born on May 5th, 1936, in Live Oak, California, the only son of Brady D. and Ruby Pearl (Williams) Baggett. His mother nurtured his musical interests and talents early on, but his most formative experiences occurred during his early teens, when the pastor of First Baptist Church of Live Oak handed him a hymnal and asked him to lead the congregation in song each Sunday. He gained additional encouragement at Live Oak High School, where he sang in the choir and played trombone in the band. While honing his musical skills, he also ran and jumped for the track team and played basketball for the Live Oak Lions. After graduating from Live Oak High School in 1954, he completed his Associates Degree at Yuba College in 1956, his Bachelor of Arts degree at San Francisco State College in 1959, and his Master of Music degree at Sacramento State College in 1968. Don also served in the Air National Guard from 1959 to 1965, where he contributed his culinary skills in the barracks mess hall.
Don met Wanda Marie Rich, his wife of 63 years, at the tender age of ten, secured his first date during their senior year in high school, and proposed beneath the Campanile at UC Berkeley, where Wanda attended college. After completing their undergraduate degrees, Don and Wanda married on January 31, 1959. They remained constant companions and friends, their love for each other evident to all. Over the years, they became such an item that many referred to them simply as “Donwan.”
After a brief stint teaching math at Wheatland High School, Don landed a job at Nevada Union High School in 1960. He spent the next 36 years cultivating an enthusiasm for choral music in his students and in the community. Eventually, he established a regional reputation as an accomplished conductor, effective clinician, and trusted adjudicator. He founded and subsequently chaired the high school’s Performing Arts Department, developed the band program by expanding instruction from a part-time to a full-time teaching position, and promoted and helped design the Performing Arts Center which was opened in 1978. He also helped establish and chaired the Northern Sacramento Valley Honor Choir, brought renowned conductors William Hall, Howard Swann, Jester Hairston, Charles Hirt, Charlene Archebeque, and Byron McGilvray to the Capitol Section of the Music Educators Association to direct the Honor Choirs, and served as President of the Northern California Choral Directors Association.
In 1978, Don led the Nevada Union choir on its first tour abroad, to Mexico, and in 1981, on its first European tour, where the choir earned second place at the International Youth Music Festival in Vienna. Upon their return from Vienna, the community held a homecoming reception, closing off the streets as thousands gathered to hear local dignitaries recognize the choir’s achievements, presenting Don with the “Keys to the Cities.” For the next two decades, his choirs toured Europe biennially, participating in prestigious festivals such as the National Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales, and the International Choral Festival in Miedzyzdroje, Poland, performing in cities across Europe, including Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, London, Leningrad, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Rome, Tallin, Venice, and Warsaw. His choirs sang in some of Europe’s most renowned venues, including Westminster Abbey and Sacré-Coeur Basilica.
Many have recognized Don for his accomplishments. The Nevada City Chamber of Commerce honored him with the Eliza Kilroy Award, given annually to an outstanding citizen of the community, and the Banner Grange named him “Man of the Year.” The Golden Empire Chapter of the United Nations honored him for bringing “the Sound of Beauty” to the region. In 1991, the Capitol Section of the California Music Educators Convention (CMEA) recognized him as an Outstanding Music Educator, and in 1994, the state of California named him Outstanding Choral Conductor. In 1985, for his many contributions to Nevada Union, the school board named the school theater the Donald B. Baggett Theatre. Upon his retirement, the cities of Grass Valley and Nevada City joined the Nevada County Board of Supervisors in celebrating his contributions to the community by naming May 25, 1996 “Don Baggett Day.” He has received commendations from Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and California Governors Jerry Brown and Pete Wilson. Following his retirement in 1996, Don continued working with the Nevada Union Choir, alongside his son Rod, who succeeded him as the high school choral director.
Don was a devoted member of First Baptist Church in Grass Valley. In 1960, during one of his first visits to the church, they invited him to contribute his musical talents. Don happily accepted the opportunity. He became the church’s first trained musician on staff, volunteering his skills as he directed the church choir and congregation for the next thirty years. Other music-related activities included directing the Grass Valley Cornish Carol Choir, singing with the talented Compline Choir at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Nevada City, conducting informal and formal vocal ensembles throughout the community, and playing trombone alongside other “senior” trombone enthusiasts who jokingly referred to themselves as “the PaleoBones.” Don was also an ardent supporter of Music in the Mountains and InConcert Sierra.
Though Don’s achievements brought him in touch with some of the State’s most accomplished musicians, those who knew him best called him “Dunny,” and “Donal’ Bruce,” folksy nicknames reminiscent of his humble beginnings as a son of “Dust-Bowl” migrants in search of opportunities in California’s agriculturally rich Sacramento Valley. Don exhibited a wonderfully diverse set of qualities, valued as much as a fishing and wood-cutting buddy as a disciplined musician. In whatever context, Don was an exceptionally kind-hearted individual, as devoted to his students and community as to his family and friends.
Don is survived by his wife, Wanda (Rich) Baggett of Nevada City, CA; four sons and their partners, Jeffrey (Jennifer) Baggett of Greenville, SC, Rodney (Pamela) Baggett of Nevada City, CA, Paul (Marie-Pierre) Baggett of Brookings, SD, and John (Katy) Baggett of Grass Valley, CA; eight grandchildren, Jordan (Quinn) Baggett of Penn Valley, CA, Dylan Baggett of Nevada City, CA, Paige Baggett of Grass Valley, CA, Antoine Baggett of Washington, DC, Bastienne Baggett of Gap, France, Grace Baggett of Joshua Tree, CA, Ella Baggett of Los Angeles, CA, and Will Baggett of Greenville, SC; one great-granddaughter, Owsley Baggett of Nevada City, CA; brothers and sisters-in-law Bill and Patti Rich of Gridley, CA and Wilma and John Stapp of Rio Vista, CA; nephews and nieces, Mike (Suzanne) Rich of Foresthill, CA, Scott (Lynn) Rich of Sarasota, FL, and Suzanne Reid of Sacramento, CA; and numerous great nephews, and great nieces. Don is preceded in death by his father and mother, Brady and Ruby Baggett, his father-in-law and mother-in-law John and Grace Rich, and his nephew, Eric Maxey.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to Nevada Union Choir Boosters ( http://www.nuchoir.org/donate ), First Baptist Church of Grass Valley, or Hospice of the Foothills.
