Harold E. Lindsey, Sr., 1928-2012: Musician a fixture in city for decades

Harold E. Lindsay, Sr., on May 8, 1970.

Harold E. Lindsey, Sr., of Toledo, a renowned saxophonist who performed with the Toledo Jazz Orchestra and who played four different kinds of saxophones in his own band at clubs all over Toledo, died Friday at the Swanton Valley Care and Rehabilitation Center. He was 84.

He suffered a stroke a few years ago and had developed pneumonia recently, said his wife, Nancy.

Mr. Lindsey played the tenor, baritone, soprano, and alto saxophone, "but the tenor was his favorite," his wife said.

He performed on cruise ships as well as clubs all over Toledo for more than 30 years and was the background accompanist for many vocalists. His local band, the Lindsey All Stars, performed in Toledo from the 1960s through the 1980s, she said.

His love of the saxophone began when he started playing the instrument in the Libbey High School band. He was a member of the New York Jazz Musicians Hall of Fame and a former member of the Toledo Federation of Musicians.

He was an employee of Textileather in Toledo for more than 20 years.

Mrs. Lindsey said she and her husband were married more than 40 years.

"He was my only boyfriend in the whole world," she said.

He is survived by his wife, Nancy; daughters, Shanielle Johnson, Shellisa Martin and Karen Johnson; sons, Harold Jr., Craig, Harold Shawn "Brent," and Sheridan Lindsey; sisters, Verdell Lawson and Carol Perryman; brother, Edward Lindsey; 21 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are to be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at First Church of God, where Mr. Lindsey was a 40-year member. Services are to be preceded by a wake at noon. Arrangements were handled by the House of Day Funeral Home.