Jacob C. Neupauer, 93, a musician and educator

Jacob C. Neupauer, 93, of Northeast Philadelphia, a musician and educator, died Thursday, April 14, at Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor.

From 1952 until 1985, Dr. Neupauer operated Neupauer Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia. The school offered lessons in voice, accordion, piano, string and reed instruments, music theory, arranging, orchestration, and conducting.

He was also on the faculty of the Philadelphia Musical Academy, now the University of the Arts, and was dean of studies at the former Combs College of Music.

Dr. Neupauer was a pioneer in the development of the accordion and was a master teacher, arranger, and conductor, said a former student and longtime friend, Gary Lucas.

Since he was a teenager, Dr. Neupauer had played the accordion and saxophone in bands, and for 15 years directed the Philadelphia Accordion Orchestra. In 1989, he founded the Neupauer Ballroom Orchestra, featuring "Swingin' Saxes and a sophisticated Big Band Sound." The band, consisting of a quintet of saxophone players, a pianist, a bass player, and a drummer, entertained at weddings, arts festivals, and concerts until 2006.

Over the years, in addition to conducting his own orchestras, Dr. Neupauer played in symphony orchestras conducted by Eugene Ormandy and James DePreist, as well as in the Lawrence Welk and Jimmy Dorsey orchestras.

A native of Lehigh County, Mr. Neupauer worked in the spectrology lab at Bethlehem Steel Corp. during World War II.

Dr. Neupauer earned a bachelor's degree from Muhlenberg College in 1946. He earned certificates from the Philadelphia Institute of Music and Pietro Deiro Accordion School, and Temple University's Boyer College of Music. He received his master's degree and doctorate in music from Combs.

He continued to teach privately until several months ago and had high energy and great enthusiasm even in his final years, Lucas said.

Dr. Neupauer is survived by a daughter, Jeanette Parra; two brothers; six grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. His wife of 58 years, Catherine Lizak Neupauer, died in 1997.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 19, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 4456 Main St., Whitehall, Pa.