Thallis Drake

Thallis Thatcher Hoyt (8 October 1927 - 27 May 2024) was the daughter of retired steel broker Thatcher Hoyt and his wife, composer Phyllis Fergus, both of old Chicago families and who maintained a summer home in Vermont. Thallis graduated from Chicago’s Waller High School in 1944 and made her debut the summer of 1947. Starting music lessons at age 5, she continued her studies in violin performance at the Eastman School of Music until her marriage in 1947, after which the couple resided year-round in New Haven, VT. After dissolution of the union, she moved to Milwaukee in 1953 with her daughter, Alexis, and served as secretary to the architectural firm of Maynard W. Meyer & Associates for six years. During that time, she met and married architect Douglas Drake, eventually making their home in Riverwest where they raised their family, adding daughter Victoria (1960) and son Jared (1962). In 1970, Thallis was appointed to the Civic Music Association Board of Directors and, after two years as President, served two years as Executive Director. She became a para-professional teacher’s aide at her children’s school and, later, secretary of the Music Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Thallis joined the MacDowell Club of Milwaukee performing with many local musicians and became a founding member of several local early music ensembles. This led to a 30-year interest in viols and other early instruments, and to establishing the now internationally respected Early Music Now concert series in 1987. Thallis was a founding member of the Women’s Architectural League (now defunct) and Early Music America. She served on the Boards of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art, the Milwaukee Symphony Women’s League, St. John’s on the Lake Arts Board and, twice, as a Director of the MacDowell Club of Milwaukee. She and her husband joined the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee in 1961 and were Riverwest residents for over 50 years. Thallis felt that attending performances - especially those of local musicians she deeply admired - was her duty and delight and found ways to share them with other music lovers by coordinating free concerts for over three decades, initially at the Boerner Botanical Gardens and then for the Lake Park Musical Mondays and the Sopra Mare Cafe series at the Villa Terrace Museum of Decorative Arts. She and her husband were proud and happy to have called Milwaukee their home. She is survived by her children, Alexis, Victoria (Lonnie), Jared (Stephanie); her sister, Reynolds, of Chicago; her sister-in-law Barbara; her nieces and nephews; and her dear friends and neighbors. Contributions in Thallis’s honor can be sent to Early Music Now. A memorial concert will be presented in the fall of 2024 at the First Unitarian Church, date TBA.

Thallis Drake

October 8, 1927 - May 27, 2024