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STATE HOSPITAL PROGRAMS — Alta Eisch (at the piano) accompanies a group of her musical therapy patients from the Jacksonville State Hospital, now the Jacksonville Developmental Center, as they perform in one of the localparks.(Continued from preceding page)and surgery was required. “In the back of my mind was the nagging, horrible fear that I might never be able to play the organ again. It was a living nightmare,” she said.Although her hand healed well, she was not so lucky with her eyes. She had cataract surgery on her right eye in 1969 and on the left in 1970. With the aid of special glasses, her eyesight held for about nine years, until — just months after playing brilliantly at the dedication of the new Church of Our Saviour — both eyes hemorrhaged and she was left with very little vision.Alta continued to play the organ for about one year, but found it too much to handle. Reluctantly, she retired.Now, Alta’s life is centered around her many friends and her “books” on cassette tape, and although she no longer is making music, she still feels it in her soul.She is the same as always — proud, stubborn, loved.“I’ve always just wanted to be helping people, teaching them, making them happy, Alta said. “That’swhat I love just as much as mymusic.”
Newspaper Details
Jacksonville Journal Courier
Jacksonville, Illinois, US
Sun, Aug 25, 1985
Page 76
Full Page
Clipped by
Cole O.
NA, 08 Feb 2023
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