PYLE, Donna J. (Carpenter)

Donna Jean Carpenter Pyle, 80, of Duncan, passed away peacefully Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, in Duncan. Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in the Don Grantham Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Randy Southerland officiating. Burial will follow at Resthaven Memorial Gardens under direction of the Don Grantham Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Donna Jean was born Sept. 23, 1931, at Carnegie, to Frederick David & Bertha (Hewes) Carpenter. She married Burt Webb on Aug. 7, 1955, and later married Edwin Pyle on Jan. 21, 1993. Donna graduated in 1949, from Duncan High School, and attended Oklahoma College for Women before moving to Kansas City, Mo., to study music at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Her studies were focused on classical piano performance art. She graduated from the University of Missouri in Kansas City receiving a Bachelor Degree in Music. After college graduation, she returned to Duncan and taught in the Duncan Public Schools as a music teacher. Her love of music led her to start her own career as a private piano instructor. She taught many students and conducted many piano recitals over her career. Several of her former students have continued their own careers in music professionally due to her influence. Donna also served as a judge for the National Piano Guild. She was a member of the Duncan Music Club and First United Methodist Church in Duncan. She is survived by her stepdaughter, Kimberlee Pyle Smith and husband Terry; four step-grandchildren and numerous cousins and dear friends. Donna Jean was preceded in death by he parents, husbands: Bert Webb and Edwin Pyle. Memorial contributions can be made to the American Cancer Society of Chisholm Trail Hospice, PO Box 2000, Duncan, OK 73534.