This is part 3 of a 3-part series. To read part 1, click here. For part 2, click here.
Over the course of the next week things happened very quickly, and what started out as a simple mystery soon blossomed into a full-blown research project approaching near-obsession levels. Every new piece of discovered information opened up more research avenues, more questions.
It soon turned out that finding Kenneth was the easy part. But as I delved deeper I found myself moving from where Kenneth was to who he was. And it became increasingly evident that there was a bigger mystery to solve.
I’ll explain, but let’s start with the obvious: After 38 years, I finally found Kenneth. And more than that, I’ve visited his grave twice.
Further research through Newspapers.com yielded more than I could have hoped for: Brahms Conservatory was listed from at least 1963 as hosting film viewings, musical instruction, and recitals. In 1979, the last mention I could find, there was a small article about Kenneth closing its doors. Yet, there were still many advertisements for Kenneth privately teaching music through the 1980s.
Although its doors closed around 1980, he continued to offer occaional instruction and recitals at the Detroit Institue of Musical Art and at Smiley Brothers, under the Brahms Conservatory name.
Other online resources, such at the Royal Oak Historical Society and FindAGrave.com yielded further results. Through FindAGrave.com, I found his mother’s grave at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Southfield, only a few miles from where I live. But via the Royal Oak Historical Society, I found a news article indicating that he had published a book.
At this point, I had reached the end of my online searching. After a week of browsing through archived newspaper articles, year books, and census records, it had become time to start reaching out further.
I filed with the State of Michigan for a copy of his death certificate. I filed with the US Military Archives for a copy of his Navy discharge. And I contacted Holy Sepulchre for the plot location of his mother.
First, I received his death certificate. He did die from a heart attack brought on by complications from atherosclerosis. He also had diabetes. His funeral arrangements were handled by Hopcroft Funeral Home and he was interred at Holy Sepulchre. Also a pleasant surprise: he apparenly had a younger brother, Donald, who signed off on the death certificate.
I then reached out to Hopcroft, and they provided me with further information that led me to where his funeral was held and also helped me find his obituary. Holy Sepulchre responded back with information as to where his mother was located – and it also listed his father next to her. I decided to visit.
At the office of Holy Sepulchre, I asked if Kenneth was also buried there, and they were able to provide me with the plot location for him. I was an emotional wreck at this point, but decided to pay him a visit and put this part of the mystery to rest.
Less than two weeks after starting this journey, I was standing at Kenneth’s grave. I cleaned it off. I cried. I was relieved, I was sad, I was curious… so many emotions, it’s still hard to process these weeks later. But the important part was this: I now had answers and a working theory on what happened.
In my first post, I outlined how Kenneth’s personality shifted from being a patient teacher to one who would get fairly nasty. I think that his health started to rapidly decline in 1988. The diabetes, along with the atherosclerosis, likely made it difficult for him to manouver life. He was feeling worse and worse, until something happened and he ended up in the hospital in September 1988. Whether he was discharged for a time or not, I don’t know. But I do know that he died from a heart attack a little over a month later. His sister, Shirley, did contact us regarding this – or at least it is a strong assumption, otherwise I would not have had a memory which ended up matching the facts.
Finally, as a last piece of the puzzle, the Navy discharge papers arrived last week. His signature on the discharge matched his signature on my copy of Polka Vivace. There was no possible doubt remaining.
So, to summarize everything I’ve learned, here is a small bio:
Kenneth was born on 17 August, 1932. He lived in Ferndale, attending Hazel Park high school, graduating in 1950. During that time he also received instruction at the Detroit Institute of Musical Art. In 1952, he enlisted in the Navy during the Korean war. In 1956 he was discharged, but signed up for the Navy reserves for another four years, receiving his final discharge in 1960.
In 1961 he founded the Brahms Conservatory and, at some point thereafter, started the Brahms Music Publishing Company. During the 1960s and 1970s he held regular events at the conservatory in Royal Oak. However, he closed the conservatory around 1980 and continued hosting events elsewhere. Also during this time he provided private lessons for a variety of instruments.
At some point, he moved to what would be his final residence in Hazel Park. On 7 November, 1988, he died from a heart attack and was interred at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery.
Today is his birthday. I cleaned off the headstones of his parents. Everything has been submitted to FindAGrave.com. I even put a small US flag on his grave as he was a veteran. We had a good talk, and I told him I would see him Memorial Day. I intend to keep their graves in order for as long as I am able. They deserve that much.
Happy birthday, Mr. Campbell. You would have been 94 today, a very significant number for both of us, for reasons I will not here get into. I’m glad I finally found you.
But wait! you say. What about the book he wrote?
That is a story for another time. There are many things I discovered about who Kenneth was, and many questions I still want answered. What was he like? Who were his friends? Did he publish any other books or pieces of music? Some questions I have answers to, others require more research. A lot more research. So stay tuned. I expect this to be an interesting journey which will take a few months to complete. I have people to reach out to, archives to visit, and more paperwork requests to file.
It would seem that Kenneth had made a name for himself around here in different ways, so why was it so difficult to find out anything personal about him? That’s what I intend to find out!
My personal thanks to these individuals who helped me along the path:
Lisa Brown, Oakland County Clerk
Jodie Figurski, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Sue Guarnieri, Hopcroft Funeral Home
And my gratitude to these wonderful tools and all the people who have worked hard to provide detailed information:
Ancestry.com
Newspapers.com
FindAGrave.com
One last thing before I close this chapter and begin opening the next one. I had ChatGPT compile all the photos I had of Kenneth and create an age-progressed image. It isn’t perfect and, to be honest, I don’t quite remember what he looked like all those years ago. But this is a close approximation – or at least my fragmented memories and gut tells me so. One of my short-term goals while working on the next leg of research, is to find a more recent photo of him. I am curious to see how close ChatGPT got.
