BATH

W e all hear music in our heads as we go about our days.

But for Carrie Shaw Day, who passed away Feb. 13, life was built on a century of music streaming from her fingers like a silken song, reaching out and wrapping the hearts of a community in grace notes that linger in the memories of family, close friends and generations of Morse High Schol alumni.

As a light snow fell across Bath, family and friends of Day gathered Saturday at Grace Episcopal Church to say farewell to a woman beloved for all her 106 years.

The church was a fit setting, nested atop a hill among elaborate and historic captain’s homes, many of which rose through the industrial shipbuilding boom that set the backdrop for Day’s remarkable life as a daughter of Bath.

Born April 27, 1906, she lived her life in a small community but also on a larger scale.

“Mum’s life was like a piece of music,” her son, Jim Day, said in his remembrance.

Many in the community remembered her as the supervisor of music for Bath public schools, or for private piano lessons in her home on Green Street.

Those who did not have the good fortune to be one of her students may know her as the grand old lady who played the Morse fight song at the annual alumni banquet in recent years.

The first year she played, her appearance was kept a surprise from attending alums. Afterward, the alumni committee said, if people knew she was playing, they could have sold 100 more tickets, Jim Day said.

Musical experiences played like an accompaniment throughout her life.

Beginning at age 6, Day learned piano from aunt Harriet Shaw and by age 7, she was performing, Jim Day said.

When she was 17, her mother and grandmother searched for a teacher who could help hone her skills, and she traveled to Portland every Saturday for two years to study piano with professor Alfred Brinkler, former municipal organist for the city of Portland.

At age 13, Carrie played the piano in a movie theater during silent movies.

“I asked her once how she knew what to play,” Jim Day said. “Mum said, ‘If it was a romantic scene, I played a love song. If it was a sad scene, I played a funeral dirge.’ “The recollection brought laughter throughout the sanctuary.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in 1929.

One of Jim Day’s favorite memories was of the story his mother told about visiting New York with friends.

There she met Howard, a shipmate of her brother and during a dance she first heard Cole Porter’s “Night and Day,” and fell in love with the song.

A week after returning to Bath, a package came in the mail from Howard. Inside was the sheet music for “Night and Day,” signed by the sailor.

“She still has that sheet music today,” Jim Day said.

In the last weeks of her life, staff at the retirement facility said she sat in her room and played, filling the corridors with sweet music.

Elaine Day, Carrie’s granddaughter in-law and wife of Jim Day’s son, Tom, spoke of sitting with Carrie in her final days. Even though Carrie could not talk, Elaine Day said her blue eyes remained sparkling.

The Rev. Lois Hart, deacon of Grace Episcopal Church, and a Green Street neighbor of Carrie’s, added her thoughts to those of the family by quoting Proverbs 17:22. “She had a merry heart,” Hart said. “Carrie always had time for a chat or a cup of tea and always time for laughter.”

Carrie Shaw Day is a descendant of one of Bath’s oldest families.

Shaw’s Bookstore, one of the oldest retail businesses in Bath during its tenure, was established in 1876 by her grandfather, John O. Shaw, who was elected Bath mayor in 1893 and later served on the school board.

She was predeceased by her husband, Harry, on Nov. 15, 1967.

Her brother, Robert Payne Shaw, passed away on Aug. 3, 1978; and her nephew Robert Payne Shaw Jr., on Dec. 24, 2002.

She is survived by a daughter, Anne Day Smith, of Dresden, and her husband, Gerald; two sons, Jonathan R. Day of Wyomissing, Pa., and his wife, Linda, and James F. Day, of Woolwich, and his wife, Linda; eight grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

An interment ceremony will take place in the spring at Oak Grove Cemetery.

rshelly@timesrecord.com