Every morning, Thelma Guenther Bonzek ’43 sits down at the upright piano in her sunny Syracuse home and plays a few songs. She pounds out the notes and sways to the music, nodding her head to keep time. At 5 p.m., she plays a few more pieces, bracketing her day with music and memories.
“I love to play, and I can read anything,” she says as she plays “How Great Thou Art.” “I don’t like recitals, but I like to play for people’s enjoyment,” she adds.
Now 94, she spends much of her time reading, knitting and entertaining visitors in the home built by her husband, Joe. Bonzek has lived in the neighborhood since 1929, when her family moved to Syracuse’s West Side.