Curly Seckler, bluegrass music great, laid to rest

In recent years, Curly Seckler’s friends and family gathered on New Year’s Day to celebrate the life of the bluegrass great with songs, stories and birthday cake. This year was the first time he wasn’t there to cheerfully greet everyone who came through the door. 

Seckler, one of the greatest tenor singers bluegrass music has ever known, died last Wednesday, two days after he turned 98. On Monday afternoon, following a celebration of life service at Spring Hill Funeral Home, he was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. 

More:Bluegrass great Curly Seckler dead at 98

Born Christmas Day, 1919 in China Grove, N.C., Seckler’s music career began in 1935. From 1949-62, his mandolin playing and singing were integral to Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ sound.

The music Seckler made as one of Flatt and Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys was prominently featured during the memorial service: his casket was wheeled in to the instrumental “Foggy Mountain Special,” and footage of a young Seckler – his hat tilted at a rakish angle – performing with the band was met with applause.

“His demeanor was just as pure as his tenor singing,” said Seckler’s longtime friend Gerald McCormick, who, with Pastor Terry Clapp, spoke of Seckler’s deep religious faith, loyalty to his friends and devotion to his family. 

WSM DJ Eddie Stubbs, who delivered the eulogy, described Seckler as the picture of “poise, professionalism, dignity and class,” who was wise beyond his sixth grade education and generous to a fault. He loved traditional music and those who made it, Stubbs added, and his recordings with the Foggy Mountain Boys were “an instructional clinic for the ages.”

A deliberate man, Seckler planned the music he wanted at his funeral several years ago. On Monday, Grammy-winning Flatt and Scruggs tribute band The Earls of Leicester performed “Who Will Sing for Me” and backed Country Music Hall of Famer Connie Smith – standing in for husband Marty Stuart – as she sang “Gathering Flowers for the Master’s Bouquet,” while Ricky Skaggs and the Whites played the gospel song “Gone Home.” 

As the service ended and Seckler's casket was wheeled out, one last Flatt and Scruggs tune was played: “When the Angels Carry Me Home.”