Prominent U. donor, Bach enthusiast Scheide '36 dies

William H. Scheide ’36, philanthropist, scholar and noted Bach enthusiast, died on Friday in his Princeton home. He was 100 years old.

Scheide was a benefactor of the University, which will inherit his rare books library. He was also a contributor to the music department, whose library originally sported his name. The University celebrated his 100th birthday in February with a ceremony in Chancellor Green, in which University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 awarded him a key to Nassau Hall, described by Eisgruber as"an honor reserved for those Princetonians whom we hold in the highest possible regard."

Recently, Scheide had begun to faint often, with four incidents occurring one week apart before his death. He fainted once per day on the last two days of his life, his widow, Judith Scheide, said on Sunday.

His last words were “I love you, too” on Thursday night, she said, adding that after waking up during the night to check her cellphone, she felt “two very strong heartbeats,” after which his heart stopped.

Judith Scheide also emphasized that her husband’s time of death, at 5:14 a.m. on Nov. 14, spoke of Bach.

“Bill wanted me to know what time it was because 14 was so important to Bach," Judith Scheide said. “Bach’s name in numerology was 14, and this number was an element in so many of his works.”

Scheide was born in Philadelphia, Pa., to pianist John Hinsdale Scheide, Class of 1896, and Harriet Hurd, a social worker and singer. Although the success of his grandfather, William T. Scheide, as a national pipelines manager for Standard Oil Co. Inc. enabled Scheide to grow up in a wealthy family, his parents emphasized the importance of modesty and interacting with the less fortunate. As a result, he went to high school at the Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut, a college preparatory school that did not require tuition at the time.

Scheide went on to attend the University, where he majored in history. The University did not have a music department at the time. Scheide later attended Columbia as a graduate student in music, paying special attention to Bach’s music throughout his studies.

He married his first wife, Lorna Riggs Scheide, in 1940, and in 1942 Scheide both mourned the death of his father and celebrated the birth of his first child.

Scheide decided to found the Bach Aria Group soon afterward out of his passion for Bach’s music and his belief that Bach’s lesser-known music, including his arias and cantatas, should be brought to the public. Having already earned the title of the first American ever to be published in one of the most highly respected Bach literary periodicals in the world, Bach-Jahrbuch, Scheide worked closely with the Bach Aria Group as it toured around the United States as well as internationally.

Throughout the years, the group included some of the most famous and well-respected artists of the time, including Marian Anderson, one of the most famous contraltos of the 20th century, as well as a figure of the Civil Rights Movement.

Scheide himself never supported racial discrimination, despite growing up in a time of strong racial tensions and segregation.

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He will be remembered for his interests in humanity, in the preservation of cultural treasures and in the advancement of decency and equality for all, said Yehudi Wyner, an American composer and pianist who has served as keyboard player of the Bach Aria Group since 1968.

“You get that type of person once in a lifetime," Wyner said. "It’s an irreplaceable loss.”

Scheide’s own tolerance of other cultures and minorities was reflected through his willingness to help fight for African-Americans’ civil rights. He was one of the primary funders of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit.

Until his death, Scheide remained an emeritus member and principal funder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, as well as a supporter of affirmative action.

Scheide remarried Gertrude Corbin in 1971 after separating from his first wife in 1966. He married Judith Scheide in 2003 after Corbin passed away in 2002.

After leaving the Bach Aria Group in 1980, Scheide focused his attention on cultivating and enlarging his family’s rare books collection, which is currently located in Firestone Library.It is the only private library housed in a university in the entire country.

Scheide had announced at the celebration of his 90th birthday on campus in 2004 that he would bequeath his entire rare books collection to the University upon his death, according to University librarian Karin Trainer.

The collection includes copies of the first four printed editions of the Bible and letters by explorers Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus, as well as autographed manuscripts by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.

“He was one of the greatest collectors that America has ever known, and his collection is incredibly rich, heavily used at Princeton all the time,”Trainer said.

However, Robin Leaver, former president of the American Bach Society and close friend of Scheide, noted that Scheide didn’t collect things just for the sake of collecting them, but collected monuments of humanity.

“Everything he collected meant something,” Leaver said, emphasizing that Scheide’s legacy consists of more than just his wealth. “Some people will latch onto the fact that he has a lot of money and collected a lot of things, but he is so much more than that. He was always concerned for the underdog. He was a man of absolute integrity, and I admire him enormously.”

In his time as a scholar and collector, Scheide found the time to give back generously to the University, particularly to the music department. Scheide helped fund the reconstruction of Woolworth Center in 1997 and has also donated to the Princeton Theological Seminary and Westminster Choir College. The Scheide Caldwell House, a gift from Scheide, opened in 2004 and houses various cultural studies programs.

Scheide also gave back to those around him, often encouraging younger scholars and undergraduates in their studies of music, particularly that of Bach.

Leaver said that he first met Scheide in a little tea shop in Oxford, and the two soon developed a friendship that would last as Scheide helped him establish himself in the world of Bach.

“I personally owe him an enormous debt. It was astonishing to me that this person was willing to give me that kind of time and encouragement,”Leaver said.

The Scheides also sponsored many events for University undergraduates throughout the years, according to Trainer.

However, Scheide never sought attention for his generosity to the University and those around him, according to all those interviewed, who emphasized his unique combination of generosity and modesty.

“He knew he was a very privileged person, and he knew that he didn’t have to worry about it, but that other people did,” Leaver said.

Scheide never cared about spending money on himself, and he often drove around town in a tiny yellow Volkswagen Beetle, Trainer said.

“His idea of a good time would be a quiet dinner with his wife, Judy, and his small circle of friends who cared about music as much as he did,” Trainer said.

Scheide also wrote several books about religion throughout his life, including “The virgin birth: A proposal as to the source of a gospel tradition,” published in 1995 by the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Many friends and family have visited Scheide’s home in Princeton since his death on Friday, including U.S. Rep. Rush Holt and his wife Margaret, Judith Scheide said.

“He lived a long life with a great deal of purpose,” Cletus Dalglish-Schommer ’91, Scheide’s nephew, said. "It is real inspiration.”

Correction: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the role ofYehudi Wyner within the Bach Aria Group. He is the keyboard player. The 'Prince' regrets the error.