HAROLD MONROE YELTON - Musician played with Dallas and Richardson symphonies


Harold Monroe "Feathers" Yelton played the French horn for the Dallas Symphony for 26 years and for the Richardson Symphony Orchestra for 13 years. He was known as Feathers to his fellow musicians for the tufts of hair he had on the top of his head.

Mr. Yelton, 83, died Tuesday of pneumonia at a Corsicana hospital.

Services will be at 1 p.m. today at Rhoton Funeral Home in Carrollton . He will be buried in Perry Cemetery in Carrollton .

"He had a passion for music," said granddaughter Celia Roman of Corsicana.

Mr. Yelton taught and performed the French horn for more than 40 years.

He once played for President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House, his family said. He served with the 322nd Army Air Forces band during World War II and played with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and at Radio City Music Hall before joining the Dallas Symphony in 1947, his family said.

He also performed with the Dallas State Fair Musicals from 1949 to 1962.

Mr. Yelton traveled extensively with the Dallas Symphony, his granddaughter said.

In 1950, he married Marjorie Ledbetter, an executive secretary to a Braniff Airways financial officer, Mrs. Roman said.

"They traveled a lot," she said.

In addition to the French horn, Mr. Yelton played the piano and loved to whistle tunes.

"He whistled all the time," said his stepdaughter, Barbara Bryant of Dallas.

Born in Cincinnati, Mr. Yelton grew up in Ohio and Fort Thomas, Ky. He attended Kentucky Military Institute and graduated from high school in Fort Thomas.

He studied at the College of Music in Cincinnati, Columbia University, Southern Methodist University and at what is now the University of North Texas.

In 1955, he received his bachelor's degree from SMU and earned his master's degree there in 1973.

He taught French horn from 1968 to 1970 at East Texas State University, now Texas A&M-Commerce.

His hobbies included collecting stamps, gardening, composing music and cycling.

In addition to his stepdaughter and granddaughter, Mr. Yelton is survived by his wife, Marjorie Ledbetter Yelton of McKinney; a sister, Darlene Wilson of Fort Thomas; a brother, Wilbur Yelton of Kentucky; three grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

The Dallas Morning News - April 1, 2006
Author: JOE SIMNACHER, Staff Writer
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams
 

The Dallas Morning News - March 31, 2006
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams

YELTON
HAROLD MONROE - JUNE 16, 1922 - MAR. 28, 2006
MARJORIE LEDBETTER - JAN. 12, 1916 - JUNE 10, 2011

Perry Cemetery, Carrollton, Dallas County, Texas