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Leader Of The Band
M
ilton Aptekar, a Detroit music educator and
renowned bandleader with the Fenby-Carr
Quintet, died Aug. 23, 2009, at his home in
Novi. He was 93.
Performing for 80 years, he continued to entertain at
the senior residence he called home for nearly a decade.
Every Saturday evening, he captivated audiences in the
theater with recorded music and commentary from his
fascinating history in the music biz. He even capital-
ized on the residents' growing musical interest by luring
them into a chorus that rehearsed weekly and per-
formed four times a year.
A trumpet player from the age of 9, Mr. Aptekar
graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from
Wayne State University in Detroit and
went on for post-graduate study at
Columbia University in New York City.
He taught music in Detroit at Eastern,
Cooley and Henry Ford high schools.
His professional musical career
began at 16 while he was a student at
Detroit Central High School, where he
formed the Varsity Syncopators with
his buddy Bernie Besman. Their very
first job was in 1931, playing from
nine to midnight at a second-floor
dive in downtown Detroit. Since there
was no piano, Milton had to rent
Milton Aptekar
one; and he and his friends lugged it
upstairs with a promise from the bar
owner that he would cover the $15 rental fee.
Milton's father, Albert, had agreed to pick up the
Syncopators in his car. As midnight approached, the
band started to pack up, though the place was still hop-
ping. The bar owner sauntered over. "Keep playing," he
said. Milton reminded him they were hired only for
three hours. "I said keep playing," the owner replied.
But what convinced Milton to play on was the glint of
the gun the bar owner flashed at him. Three hours later,
with the crowd thinning out, the owner said, "Get outta
here," and the Syncopators split — without a penny.
Lifelong Connections
While at Wayne State, Mr. Aptekar sought to join a fra-
ternity. When told, "Sorry, pal, no Jews allowed," he and
his Jewish friends formed Chi Omicron. Though the
fraternity never shared a house, they remained lifelong
friends. Among the surviving couples are Detroiters
Sam and Bebe Barnett and Iry and Jean Rosen, all in
their eighties or nineties.
One summer day at a Chi Omicron picnic, Milt spotted
a girl with the sweet smile of an angel. He asked around.
She was taken. He turned to Sam Barnett."Sammy,
what's that beauty doing with that guy? If you're really a
swell pal," he said,"you'll get her to ditch him."
Sam was a good friend indeed. Milton and Anne
Molodofsky were married in 1940 and held hands
throughout their 65-year marriage.
In 1939, Mr. Aptekar joined forces with Gene Fenby
and three others who taught in Detroit public schools.
They called themselves the Fenby-Carr Quintet, "The
Singing Schoolteachers." The group's entertaining mix
of barbershop quartet, Dixieland jazz and standards
quickly brought fame. Milton wrote all the vocal and
instrumental arrangements.
In 1955, Fenby-Carr introduced their music and
witty repartee to a broader public on the television
show Stump Us. Detroiters would propose song titles
to challenge the band's encyclopedic knowledge of
music. The show ended abruptly when another televi-
sion station began broadcasting Liberace's program.
The sponsor of Stump Us, Heckman's Crackers, pulled
the plug on Fenby-Carr.
Mr. Aptekar performed with Fenby-Carr for over six
decades at countless weddings, bar mitzvahs, automo-
tive industry events and conventions in and around
Detroit. Among the many celebrities with whom they
performed were Bob Hope, Ed Sullivan, Dinah Shore,
George Gobel, Annette Funicello, Jimmy
Dean, Count Basie, Pat Boone and
George Kirby.
For years, they played the Soap Box
Derby in Akron, Ohio, and the Detroit
Athletic Club and performed as the
house band at the London Chop House.
The band traveled frequently to lux-
ury resorts like the Greenbrier in West
Virginia, the Grand Hotel on Mackinac
Island and venues in French Lick, Ind.,
and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They delight-
ed audiences with their inventive blend
of vocal and instrumental sounds, but
they always returned to Detroit.
Performing And Teaching
Though tempted to go to Hollywood and seek his for-
tune on a national stage, Mr. Aptekar, a child of the Great
Depression, chose instead to keep his day job as a teach-
er and school administrator in Detroit and take advan-
tage of the entertainment needs of a rapidly expanding
auto industry with its razzle-dazzle car shows.
Ten years ago at age 84, Milton learned how to use
a computer. Not one to miss out on the greatest tech-
nological revolution he had ever witnessed, he became
adept at arranging music, designing greeting cards for
his family and friends and using the Internet.
With his four children, Richard, Stuart, Lucy and
Ken, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren
living in California, Boston, New York and Paris, he
kept in daily contact through Skype video. Even in his
final days, he was learning to use the social network-
ing Internet service Twitter.
Milton Aptekar is survived by his sons and daugh-
ter-in-law, Richard Aptekar of California, Stuart
Aptekar of California, Ken Aptekar and Eunice Lipton
of France; daughter and son-in-law, Lucy Aptekar and
Gerry Leader of Massachusetts; grandchildren, Jeff
and Nicole Aptekar, Dan Aptekar, Nicole Aptekar, Rory
Aptekar, Wren Aptekar Leader, Jody Leader and Paul
McLean, Kristin Leader and Nicola Moscufo; great-
grandchildren, Jerilyn McLean, Michela Moscufo and
Emily Moscufo; brother and sister-in-law, Jerry and
Jane Aptekar; and dear friends, Lu Teichman, Sam and
Bebe Barnett and Iry and Jean Rosen.
Donations in memory of Milton Aptekar may be
made to Wayne State University Department of Music,
1321 Old Main, Detroit, MI 48202. Arrangements by
Ira Kaufman Chapel.
❑
AN
Obituaries
August 27 • 2009
65