Ross Veino

Ross James Veino a professional trumpet player and music store owner, who helped introduce thousands of Orange County students to playing in bands, died unexpectedly on February 27, 2020.  He was 73.

Ross was born February 24, 1947, to Alfred and Ruth (Dockham) Veino in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.   He spent his summers participating in state drum and bugle corps and playing in school bands.  In 1964, Ross graduated from Portsmouth High School.

After graduation, Ross joined the US Navy.  He auditioned and was selected for the US Navy Band.  His tour of duty was in the Mediterranean Sea as a musician in the Sixth Fleet admiral’s band.  During his last months of duty at the Naval Training Center in Orlando, Ross met his wife to be, Mary Charity Peel, whom he married on January 17, 1970.  In January they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

In the early 1970s, Ross played in the Jungle Book Band at the newly opened Walt Disney World; performed at Rosie O’Grady’s in Church Street Station in downtown Orlando; and joined the band, “Oxford Blue.”  He also had become a salesmen with the family-owned Keller Music Company of Orlando. He learned a great deal about retail music sales and instrument rentals from “Pappa Keller,” and after twenty years decided to start his own business.

In 1989 Ross and his cousin, Rodney Shuttleworth, opened “Dr. Wind’s Band Room” in the Dover Shopping Center in Orlando.  By 1995 Ross and Mary had become the sole owners of the business, doubled the size of the store, and changed its name to the “Band Room.”  They rented band instruments to beginning middle school band students, repaired instruments, sold band accessories, and ran a music school with private music lessons.

When Orlando hosts a national conference for retail music business owners, Ross, Mary, and their employees hold tours and workshops at the “Band Room.”  Ross believed in “paying it forward.”  Over the last twenty years, the “Band Room” has been recognized by Veritas Instrument Rental (VIR) for national awards.  Later this year the “Band Room” will celebrate its 31st anniversary serving the Orlando and Orange County music community.

Ross is survived by his wife, Mary, and his daughter, Angela, both of Orlando; a sister, Virginia Clarke, of St. Augustine, FL; cousins Rodney Shuttleworth and his wife Wanda, of Georgiana, AL; Jeff Hanscom, of Staten Island, NY; Greg and Bobby

Hanscom, both of Portsmouth, NH; sisters-in-law, Bobbie Peel of Winter Park, FL and Martha M. Peel of Valley, AL.  His nieces and nephews include: Cheryl LaBert and April Clarke, both of St. Augustine, FL; Teresa Bonner, of Auburn, AL; Thomas Peel Wasson, RN, of Coos Bay, OR; and great nephews Jesse and Grant Bonner, both of Auburn, AL.