A NATIONALLY respected Salisbury music teacher and dyslexia specialist has died aged 86.

Sheila Oglethorpe died peacefully at Milford House Care Home on May 5. She had continued to walk the mile and a half to Salisbury Cathedral every Sunday morning until very recently, despite longstanding health problems, and was a familiar figure to many.

Sheila Mary Miller was born in 1933, the third of four children, and was brought up in Devon and Hampshire. A gifted pianist, she went to Sherborne School for Girls and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where she qualified as a music teacher. While in her first job she met solicitor Bill Oglethorpe (see obituary, Salisbury Journal, 14 February 2019). They married in 1956 and lived near Lancaster, where they had three sons.

The family moved to Salisbury in 1964 and settled in Downton in 1966. Sheila embraced Salisbury musical life, joining the Farrant Singers and Salisbury Musical Society. She joined the music staff of the Salisbury Cathedral School in 1968 and taught piano there for over 30 years.

She also taught at several other local schools, including Godolphin for 18 years.

Driven by her firm belief in the benefits of musical education for all and the value of introducing classical music to children at an early age, Sheila became Honorary Secretary of the charity Concerts for Children (later renamed Salisbury Saturday Morning Concerts) which put on regular events at the City Hall with tickets priced as low as possible. Over 32 years, her organisational skills and tireless energy helped to bring world-class soloists and ensembles to thousands of local children.

When rising costs threatened to drive up ticket prices, Sheila closed down the charity and handed over a healthy surplus to La Folia, a musical production company whose work includes projects with special schools, autistic units and the hearing impaired.

At Salisbury Cathedral School, Sheila developed a particular interest in children who were musically talented but struggled with academic blocks. Their problems drove her to take the RSA Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties, and she began a new career as a dyslexia specialist. Her book “Instrumental Music for Dyslexics” remains a standard for music educationalists. She lectured all over the UK, and contributed to other books and academic journals. In 2010, while chairman of the British Dyslexia Association’s music committee, Sheila led the staging of the first ever international conference on music and dyslexia in London. She finally retired in 2011, and was honoured as one of Classic FM’s Music Teachers of the Year.

Sheila and Bill played host to family, friends, visiting musicians and many others at Hazelacre, the family home in Downton, for 48 years. In 2014 they moved into a retirement flat in Salisbury and in 2018 into nursing care. Bill died in January 2019.

Sheila is survived by three sons, six grandchildren and one great granddaughter.