Borough Bugler Plays 'Taps' for 3,000th Fallen Comrade

At 91, trumpeter LeRohn D. Deysher of Hellertown shows no signs of slowing down.

A well-known musician in the area, the World War II Navy veteran has for many years been the "go-to guy" for performances at military funerals, David Heintzelman of Hellertown's Heintzelman Funeral Home said.

And that was the case Friday, when Deysher performed "Amazing Grace" and "Taps" for a fallen comrade for the 3,000th time, during an 11am funeral service at Holy Saviour Cemetery in Bethlehem.

It was in Bethlehem that Deysher's musical roots were planted.

Before graduating in 1939, he was a member of the Liberty High School Marching Band, he said.

Decades later, he was invited to perform with the famed Grenadier Band when they were on one of their trips to Hawaii.

During World War II, Deysher was a Navy musician and served on the U.S.S. Pennsylvania.

He began performing "Taps" at funerals in 1985, and still plays at about 200 services per year, he said, adding that with student musicians in school during the day, he's often the "go-to" musician out of practicality.

Heintzelman was less modest in his appraisal of Deysher's contributions over the years.

"It didn’t matter where, what county or cemetery...if he was available he would be there," he said. "With buglers/trumpeters being replaced by taped mutes, his love for his instrument and what it means when playing 'Taps' is like no other." 

"The Lehigh Valley is so honored to have LeRohn D. Deysher at the gravesides to play 'Taps,'" he added. "May he continue in the years to come to honor those men and woman who serve."