VICTOR R. SCHOEN
Victor Robert Schoen, age 74, of Maryville, died Sunday night, February 15, after a brief illness.
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929 and received a B.A. degree from Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio in 1950 and a Master of Music degree from Indiana University in 1952. He
received the Performance Certificate from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria in 1954. With his
pianist wife Sallie, he was an Associate Professor of Music at Maryville College from 1954
through 1994. His honors and awards include the Ford Foundation Asian Studies Seminars, the
National Defense Foreign Language Fellowship (Chinese), a Mellon Foundation Faculty
Development Grant (Composition), the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer
Seminar (Japanese Theater Music), and the New Music Festival XIV (Guest Composer). An
accomplished composer, his published works include choral pieces, chamber music, piano solos,
and an organ prelude. His ballet, The Dancing Princesses, was performed by the Appalachian
Ballet Company. He also appeared for many years in the role of Herr Drosselmeyer in their
annual production of The Nutcracker. A longtime communicant of St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church in Maryville, Victor was active in several local organizations. He served on the Cultural
Subcommittee of the Blount County Sister City Organization, was a board member of the Evelyn
Miller Young Pianist Series, Volunteer Advisory Council member of the Knoxville Museum of
Art, KMA Guild member, and loyal supporter of and volunteer for both the Knoxville Symphony
Orchestra and the Knoxville Opera Company. Victor was also a member of the East TN Jazz
Society, a self-described ”lazy gardener,” and an award-winning gourmet cook who contributed
his gifts to the KSO Elegant Dining, and enjoyed entertaining throughout his life.
Following his retirement from Maryville College, Victor traveled to such countries as China,
Egypt, Hungary, Russia, Greece, and Thailand. His lifelong love of music and the arts, especially
opera, was evident in his many trips to Atlanta, Nashville, Santa Fe, and New York opera
performances. He was a member of The Metropolitan Opera Guild.
He was preceded in death by his parents Victor Hugo Schoen and Rose Kiss Schoen, his wife of
41 years Sallie Warth Schoen, and sister Louise Kruse.
Survivors include sister Marguerite Carpenter of Anderson, South Carolina; daughter Suzanne
Vest and husband Bobby of Augusta, Georgia, daughter Lydia Schoen of Knoxville, and
daughter Emily Kiss Schoen of Knoxville; nephews John, Robert, and Victor Carpenter; nieces
Margo Allen and Betsey Kassen; devoted friend Rick Russell of Knoxville; and a diverse
community of beloved friends.
A memorial service will be held this Saturday, February 21st, at 4 pm at St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Church, 314 West Broadway in Maryville, with receiving of friends to follow at the family home
on Mark Lane, Maryville. McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home is in charge of
arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the
Knoxville Museum of Art, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Opera Company,
and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Maryville.
McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home 982-6812
http://www.mccammonammonsclick.com