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Michael ‘Mike’ Eller, jazz guitarist and McDonogh School music instructor, dies

Michael “Mike” Eller, a guitarist and McDonogh School instructor, died of lung cancer complications June 10 at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. The Lutherville resident was 72.

Born in Chicago, he was the son of John Eller, an insurance executive and Helen O’Brien, an antique dealer. His family moved to Baltimore when he was a child and he attended Immaculate Conception School in Towson before graduating in 1970 from Towson High School. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied guitar and composition.

He met his future wife Susan Waters-Eller at the old Luskin’s appliance store in Towson. He had a temporary job in maintenance and she was a summer switchboard operator.

He was giving guitar lessons at the time. He also performed with the Dave Penn Quartet and Al Miller and the Skyliners and later with jazz organist Dennis Fisher’s Trio.

“If I ever wanted to add a guitar player, it would be Mike Eller,” said Mr. Fisher, the leader of the jazz ensemble. “He was a good musician and performed with us at a society gig or club. He was easygoing and always showed up for rehearsals.”

“As a young man, his grandmother gave him a guitar and encouraged him,” his wife said. “He was a fan of acoustic-electric guitars and owned a Howard Roberts model and several Gibsons. He had a quiet sound — really mellow.”

Mr. Eller joined the faculty of McDonogh School in 1987.

“Mike and his troupe of student guitarists could always be counted on to offer a beautiful contribution or two to the school’s holiday program,” said a McDonogh colleague, John Grega. “‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ or ‘O Tannenbaum’ or ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’ never failed to resonate throughout the gym and quiet the itchy second graders and rambunctious sophomores.

“Mike was always cooperative, always amenable to wherever and however he and his group would be placed at this event. He shared his love of guitar and oversaw the growth of the private music program as it moved from place to place around campus,” said Mr. Grega, the school’s retired religious studies director. “He hired numerous professional private music educators, scheduled thousands of student lessons and instilled a love of music in many budding guitarists.”

Mr. Grega said Mr. Eller would take over the dining room at his home on weekends and spread out his worksheets, student sign-up sheets, performance spaces and teacher notes on availability.

“Mike was a bit of a midwife in the way he helped others to create music in their own ways,” said Mr. Grega. “He arranged for students to learn guitar, piano, flute and violin. He had a network of musical contacts.”

He performed an original composition on stage at Artscape with the Baltimore Jazz Workshop. He played alongside saxophonists Carl Grubbs and Bob Gray.

“Mike was a member of Baltimore’s jazz scene and once played with Dennis Fisher at the New Haven Lounge in Northwood,” said his brother-in-law, William Waters. “It was there that he met [the late] Baltimore Symphony Conductor Yuri Temirkanov who came to hear some ‘real American’ jazz.”

“Mike let his music speak for himself, ” said his brother-in-law. “He did not put himself first.”

In addition to his wife, Susan Waters-Eller, a retired Maryland Institute College of Art faculty member who taught drawing, survivors include two brothers, Robert Eller, of Baltimore, and John Eller, of Cambridge in Dorchester County; three sisters, Kathy Eller, of Towson, Barbara Jedrejewski, of Towson, and Mary Eller, of Cockeysville; and nieces and nephews.

Services were held June 18 at the Ruck Towson Funeral Home.