Mattie Robertson, beloved Chicago music teacher and choir director, dies at 90
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago music legend has passed away.
Mattie Robertson died Dec. 27. She performed music, directed choirs, and taught students for decades.
The number of people who knew and loved her were many.
In October of last year, Robertson celebrated her 90th birthday. The Whitney M. Young Magnet High School music teacher never had children, but Robertson affectionately called the women she taught to sing her "girls."
Robertson's former students, all members of the Renaissance Concert Girls Chorus at Whitney Young, gathered in October to celebrate her ninth decade. Robertson directed them, as she had decades ago, as they sang the Whitney Young school song that she wrote.
During her tenure, Whitney Young won many musical honors.
"She took us places," said Dr. Ava Thompson Greenwell, a former student of Robertson's. "She exposed us to competitions in the state of Illinois."
Greenwell was among the women celebrating with Robertson. The professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University remembers being a freshman at Whitney Young and having Robertson as her music teacher.
"I love all types of music because of Mattie Robertson," she said. "I played the piano, and she actually allowed me to accompany the girls' chorus on one of the songs. So it was always kind of nerve-wracking, but it taught me how to handle those nerves."
Robertson's passion for music began at an early age. She studied piano at 5 and played the organ by age 8.
Robertson served as sanctuary choir director at First Baptist Congregational Church. Her arrangement of "I Must Tell Jesus" was featured in the 2001 hit movie "Hardball."
In 2013, the late CBS News Chicago anchor and reporter Harry Porterfield featured Robertson in his "Someone You Should Know" series.
"It's such an honor to do this. It's just a blessing for me," Robertson said in the 2013 interview, "and it's the gift God gave me, and I love using it. I love serving Him."
Ms. Robertson taught in room 196 for 16 years at Whitney Young. Those who know her say she was strict, but loving and nurturing—all at the same time.
"She was always trying to lift us up as young women," said Greenwell, "teach us how to dress, how to act."
Robertson battled health problems for years. She is now gone, but she is not forgotten.
"She was a visionary—an author of our school song—and so it's incredible and it's incredible that we're able to continue to celebrate her," said Rickey Harris, principal of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School.
A celebration of Robertson's life with a wake and a service is set for this coming Saturday. And Robertson's legacy will live on for generations to come.
