“Home” begins and endures in Purdue family musical legacy
Maybe there’s a chance for me to go back there
—”Home,” The Wiz
Now that I have some direction.
It would sure be nice to be back home
Where there’s love and affection.
Gregg Mantock (S’87) was a tall, burly, analytical freshman majoring in computer science and math when he walked into Elliott Hall of Music in 1982 to audition for Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO). He handed the accompanist the sheet music to “Home” from The Wiz — and met his future.
The accompanist would become his wife. They would have two sons, naming one Elliott after the place where they met. Gregg Mantock was home. Only, he did not know it then.
Gregg’s Purdue musical legacy began that day, but his wife Dianne (DeDe) began her legacy at birth. At age two, DeDe started taking piano lessons from her mother, Audrey McElheny, an accomplished pianist. McElheny directed the Miami County Home Extension Chorus, which performed with other Indiana extension choruses each summer during the Extension Homemakers Association Conference held at Purdue. The mass choir was directed by Albert P. Stewart, legendary PMO director.
“I went to all of my mother’s rehearsals, all the festivals,” DeDe says. “I grew up in Purdue Musical Organizations.”
DeDe majored in voice and minored in piano at Indiana University in the late 1970s. In the summer she was the accompanist for her mother’s chorus. During this time, Bill Luhman, then PMO director, hired DeDe as an assistant director. Her lifelong relationship with PMO made DeDe a natural fit.
In contrast, Gregg had never seen the Purdue Varsity Glee Club before he arrived on campus from Muncie, Indiana, in 1982. He attended the Freshman First Nighter, heard the Glee Club perform, and said, “I gotta do that.”
As a member of the Glee Club, Gregg sang in the premier 50s quartet, Ba-Na-Na. He was assistant manager and chairman of the Purdusirs, a select leadership group. Today, the Mantock’s son Rob mirrors his father’s experiences as a member of the Glee Club and a singer in Ba-Na-Na. During his upcoming senior year in film and video studies, Rob will be the assistant manager and chairman of the Purdusirs.
“I hope I can make my father proud,” Rob says. “He does whatever to get the job done, but at the same time he makes sure what he’s doing is what he loves. Knowing my dad and who he is shows how the organization shapes its students and, also, how its students shape it.”
The Mantocks’ son Elliott graduated last May with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. He played trombone in nearly every Purdue band. DeDe, his professional musician mother, influenced his talents. “She taught me everything I know about music,” Elliott says. “I was living with the best accompanist that I could possibly have.”
Today, Gregg is a systems engineer for Cisco Systems. He says: “With PMO, I didn’t have to give anything but my time, but I got a lot. They took me under their wing and made me feel like I was something more.”