Joe Zimmerman was born Aug 5, 1930, in Byron, OK, fourth son of Claude Sr and Blanche Zimmerman. He took piano lessons from 10 years old through high school. He did occasional work tying on the hay baler or driving a tractor to plow the wheat harvest In 1948, he graduated from Byron High School and enrolled in John Brown University as a piano major -- he graduated in 1952. To avoid being drafted into the Army, he enrolled in Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and received the Master of Music Degree with a major in piano. Uncle Sam was not to be ignored, so he was drafted into the Army in 1954 for a two year term. His career as a music teacher began at JBU in Sept 1956. During his 'spare time', he worked on his Ph.D. Degree at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN and completed it in 1971. He and his friend, Ruth Smith Ronan, presented many two-piano recitals over the years of service at JBU. He retired from JBU in 1996 and studied the Alexander Technique in London for two years. He thoroughly enjoyed travelling in Britain, Europe, Eqypt, Israel and Turkey. Since his retirement, he has worked on building a bigger rock garden and several waterfalls in his backyard and also ice skating in a nearby rink.

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