It was the kind of show Oscar Feliu would have loved: filled with laughter, tears, memories and music.
Although Feliu wasn’t there in body, his spirit cast over the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center Sunday afternoon during a memorial service.
Feliu, 66, died unexpectedly on Nov. 9, but his legacy and bond with family, friends and people of The Villages lives on.
“Oscar loved his life and he lived his life to the fullest; he was a good man,” said the Rev. Noman Lee who officiated the service. “Now is a time to remember the good memories Oscar left with all of us. Now is a time to love.”
Members of the Feliu family attended, including Oscar’s wife Bobbye and son Scott. He spoke at a microphone in the aisle near the front of the stage.
“The thing I remember the most about my father is the love he had for my mother,” Scott said.
The son also remembered some funny adventures with his dad.
“Oscar was always a teacher and when I was a teenager, I really liked watching tennis on TV,” Scott said. “He said he would teach me, so we went on the court for the first time. Well, we get out there and, on the first day, he breaks his ankle. First thing he says to me: ‘Don’t tell your mother.’”
After Oscar healed, father and son gave tennis another shot.
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to play,” Oscar told his son. They get out on the court and wouldn’t you know it, Oscar breaks his ankle again.
“You taught me a good lesson,” the son told his father. “Everybody is afraid to play tennis with you.”
Scott recalled another time he and his father went fly fishing on a cold day in Michigan.
“We got out on the water and the fog kept rolling in,” Scott said. “Pretty soon we couldn’t see anything and the water was up to our necks. Finally we got out of there and Oscar said: ‘Don’t tell your mother or she’ll never let me go fishing again.”
Feliu was a remarkable man with diverse talents. He came to America from Chile in 1969 with a desire to sing. Feliu attended Central Michigan University. He then worked in entertainment and the restaurant business.
Feliu met the Morse family in Michigan and came to Florida in 1989 to work with Gary Morse, developer of The Villages.
Maestro Bill Doherty, who helped organize the memorial service, has called Feliu the “father of music in The Villages.” Feliu was a pioneer in opera, symphonies, pop and just about any other form of music here.
“He means so much to me and everyone in The Villages,” Pasquale Valerio of The Villages Philharmonic Orchestra told the audience.
“We shared so many dreams,” Valerio said, adding that most of them came true. He settled here because he knew Feliu and wanted to live near him.
“Oscar was like no other man,” Valerio said. “He loved music, sports and people. He treated you like family, and he respected everyone.”
Valerio said his mother had a tradition. Before a concert, she would bless him by crossing his forehead and kissing him on the cheek.
“When I played here or anywhere with Oscar, he would do the same thing, just like my mom,” Valerio said in a soft voice.
In the early ‘90s, Valerio had to leave The Villages. “I told Oscar, no matter where we go, we would still have each other and we would be together again.
“I feel that way now. Everything he taught me, I will remember and try to teach others. I feel we still have Oscar.”
In addition to tributes, the memorial featured music. Doherty played the piano and directed a choir of about 40 of Oscar’s friends. The highlights included “Ave Maria” and “You Raise Me Up.”
A video was shown of Oscar Feliu’s life. It included his early rocking days when he sang in an Elvis jumpsuit and also rocked out on “La Bamba” and “Twist and Shout.”
Perhaps the most moving moment came when a video of Feliu singing “You Raise Me Up” was played. A hush came over the theater during the song and then loud applause.
“Oscar is gone but his greatest achievement is the people he touched and taught, and how they will continue to grow,” Lee said.
One was Bill Doherty.
“I’m so proud to have been a part of Oscar’s life,” he said. “I’ll never forget how he taught and helped me. And I will do whatever I can to help others. Helping other people is Oscar’s legacy and it will continue.”
Hector Garrido, Villages’ keyboard player and composer, also believes that will happen.
“Oscar’s influence will go on,” he said. “But today I had to be here for Oscar. I wanted one more chance to tell him, good-bye Amigo.”