Bagpiper Terry Carroll played at hundreds of events. His family was surprised at how many lives he touched

OKEMOS — Maureen Carroll didn't realize just how many people in mid-Michigan knew her father until last week.

Terry Carroll, a resident of Okemos for more than 40 years known for the Highland bagpipes he played at countless funerals, weddings and local events, died early in the morning Feb. 20 after battling heart failure.

Maureen Carroll's phone at her home in Chicago has been ringing off the hook ever since.

"He knew a lot of people," she said. "They're coming out of the woodwork."

To her and her younger sister Colleen, Terry Carroll, 89, was a warm and reassuring presence growing up. To so many others he was "the Irish bagpiper."

Born in New Jersey and raised in County Clare, Ireland, Carroll returned to the U.S. as a teenager. He moved to Okemos in 1980, where playing the bagpipes, a hobby he took up later in life, became his trademark. Whether he was playing with the Glen Erin Pipe Band, the Lansing area's only bagpipe and drum band, or solo at funerals for police officers, firefighters or veterans, Carroll's bagpipes were memorable.

He loved playing the instrument, friends and family said, but for him it was about more than the music.

"The bagpipes were his gateway to connection with people," Maureen Carroll said.

Mid-Michigan's 'Irish bagpiper'

If you've been to parades in the Lansing area over the last four decades, chances are you've seen Terry Carroll playing his bagpipes, Ed Gillespie said. It was easy to pick him out of the crowd.

"He was always dressed to the nines," in full regalia, complete with a kilt and high socks stuffed on one side with a "sgian dubh," a Scottish Highlander's knife, said Gillespie, his friend of 30 years. "Usually he was all dressed. He had everything."

Carroll didn't start playing the bagpipes until he was nearly 40. As a young man, he flew B-47s with the Strategic Air Command in the U.S. Air Force. Then he worked as a salesman, first for U.S. Steel and then for Lansing-based Demmer Corp.

Carroll was living in the Detroit area when an acquaintance taught him how to play the bagpipes. He fell in with area music groups and never stopped, joining the Glen Erin Pipe Band after he moved to Okemos and staying with them for three decades.

When Maureen Carroll was younger her father's hobby was, at times, embarrassing, but ever present, she said.

"When we were in middle school he would play in the house, practicing, and you're trying to talk on the phone with your friends," she said. "We were not cool with it."

Her family attended "parade, after parade, after parade" that Terry Carroll marched and played in and over the years. Maureen Carroll said her father often played his bagpipes at funerals and events without receiving a formal invitation first.

"He would hear about an event and offer to play," she said. "People loved to hear him."

A friend to many

It's hard to say exactly how many events Terry Carroll performed at, but Maureen Carroll said the number stretches into "the hundreds."

Among them was David Price's wedding 31 years ago. Price went on to play with Carroll in the Glen Erin Pipe Band and serves as the group's drum major today.

"Terry was a driving force in the band, just a great guy," Price said.

Band members often referred to Carroll as "the Chaplain" because of his ability to listen when anyone needed advice or to hear a well-intentioned joke, he said.

"He was funny, but he was also really sincere and took a key interest in who you were," Price said.

When Bill Collins decided he might want to join the Glen Erin Pipe Band, Carroll was the first person he approached.

"Practically everyone knew Terry," said Collins, who today serves as the band's pipe major. "He was friendly to everyone and he always knew the right thing to say."

The band's manager for several years, Carroll worked with different event and parade committees regularly, he said, and even after health struggles forced him to stop performing with the group, he still often attended social events and fundraisers for the group.

"He had this sense of humor and I think people really took that to heart," Collins said. "We'll often repeat his jokes. He'll be dearly missed."

Ed Gillespie said Carroll knew not everyone he met was a fan of the bagpipes. He found humor in that, too, Gillespie said.

"I'm not sure whether the audience is applauding my performance, or that I stopped playing," Carroll once told him.

"That's the kind of jokester he was," Gillespie said. "He always had a joke. It was almost like he had to give everybody a gift. He was just an amazing human."

Beyond his music, Maureen Carroll said her dad will be remembered for the relationships he had with so many.

"He really prioritized relationships and community and he just had such a philanthropic spirit," she said. "He just showed up for people."

A 9 a.m. visitation and 10 a.m. memorial Mass are planned at St. Martha Catholic Church, 1100 W Grand River Ave. in Okemos, on March 16. A reception will follow and guests are encouraged to wear "a touch of green or plaid, or both," according to Carroll's obituary.

READ MORE:

'We're the sixth man': Tom Izzo built MSU's Izzone nearly 30 years ago. Now it's part of his legacy

Here's what we know about restaurants that opened and closed in the Lansing area in February

Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ .

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Mid-Michigan's 'Irish bagpiper,' Terry Carroll, 89, dies