Marty Meddock and daughter Devon share an admirable father-daughter relationship to which time well spent in support of one another is the largest factor. She calls him her biggest cheerleader and best friend.

A father’s greatest gift to his children is to believe in them. To the world, Marty Meddock is Devon’s father, but to her heart, he is her best friend.

A father’s quiet sacrifice is often the loudest catalyst for a daughter’s success. Devon graduated from Sheffield High School in 2009 after an extraordinary experience in developing her musical talent and aspirations.

“I got the best education any high schooler could have gotten from some of the finest teachers at Sheffield back in the day,” she said.

From a very young age, Devon was exposed to music and started piano lessons at age five with Cathy Peterson. She credits her mother, Kim Wren, for regularly showing her old Rogers and Hammerstein VHS tapes and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals.

“The musical theater bug got me really young,” said Devon.

In high school, All-County Musicals at the Struthers Library Theater were pivotal, with Devon cast as the lead roles as Belle in Beauty and the Beast and as Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Active in the Sheffield Marching Band, Steel Drum Band and as drum major, Devon did everything she could with music.

Also an avid trumpet player who was strong in the subjects of math and science, Devon shared that she was a student at the Warren County Summer Music School since the summer before fifth grade, and is currently home from New York City to teach during the three-week program at Beaty Middle School. While it is her first time teaching for the school, Devon has stayed connected to several of the people who influenced her passion for her chosen career path. That particular experience shaped her and, as she reminisced about her time spent there over her middle and high school years, Devon mentioned how the late Andrew Pollard taught her music theory and the late Roz Hupp was her first voice teacher. Kathy Bowley and Sarah Korchak were the first two to say to Devon, “You could really do something with music.” She believes that the support through the years was critical. The late John Check, her first professional mentor, influenced Devon to pursue musical theater professionally because he said, “You’re good enough to go to New York.” Devon shared that sometimes she would sit at Check’s gravesite asking for guidance in the profession of musical theater.

Following high school, she studied music theatre at Baldwin Wallace and transferred to Mercyhurst University where she studied trumpet and several minors, including physics. Devon obtained a master’s degree at NYU in musical theater and a post master’s certificate in vocal pedagogy. Now in her 10th year as a professor at NYU, she teaches musical theatre and contemporary voice and acting. Performing all over NYC in the theatre district, Devon also is a frequent soloist for the Florida Symphony and has done shows in the theater district and at New World Stages for many years. Additionally, she is involved in many developmental works and recordings for Broadway writers like Dr. Joe Church, Joe Iconis, and Nick Kaminski. A Broadway reading about The Polka King, a Jack Black movie, is Devon’s most recent project.

She said she teaches at her dream university and when asked of her other interests and what she does in her free time, Devon answered, “Play music! It’s really just my life.”

While her musical side was influenced by her mother, teachers and mentors, her father influenced the academic side, but more importantly, he was the one who spent many of those years as the “behind the scenes guy,” taking her everywhere and volunteering for whatever was needed.

“Anything that she wanted to try, attempt or get good at, I was the behind the scenes guy,” said Marty.

He even coached her T-ball team.

“I figured out pretty quickly what my path was and he dove right in with me,” Devon said.

Marty reflected back on those years by saying, “I’ve been a referee for high school football for 42 years and I have more memories of being a Sheffield band parent than I do of any football game. Just had an absolute ball.”

Born and raised in Clarendon, Marty graduated with a science degree from Edinboro University. After retiring from work as a quality control manager, he later taught science at Archbishop Walsh High School in Olean, N.Y. Aside from being heavily involved with his daughter’s aspirations, Marty remarked that he enjoyed teaching more than anything else he’s ever done in his life. Substitute teaching became what he occasionally did so that he could visit his daughter frequently in New York City. At one point, he even worked security for Broadway shows and lived in Times Square. Marty stays extremely active in the community by working part time at the Warren County YMCA and still umpires baseball games and referees football. On weekends, he spends time at the Kinzua Point Information Center, and can be found riding his bike and participating in karate.

“He’s the Energizer Bunny with the mustache and the bike,” said Devon.

Both enjoy history and Marty is often referred to as the town historian with, as his daughter says, a photographic memory. Marty engages in reenactments, including the Oakland Cemetery Day where he tells of the beginning history of the cemetery and the events of the Civil War. He enjoys local history and the Victorian time period the most. His passion for history and storytelling also brought about his involvement with the Ghost Tours for the Library Theater as well as the Haunted Trolley Tours for the Warren County Historical Society. Over the years, he has gotten into the full character of Archibald Tanner and has also participated in the Warren Players Club productions.

With a mutual love for theater and history, Devon recalled exploring the Oakland Cemetery in search of the burial site of Thomas Struthers. Avid cemetery lurkers, the two recently found the grave of Alexander Hamilton and said they check out cemeteries everywhere they travel. Searching for prominent figures became a hobby they shared together which led Marty to become involved at that cemetery, where he is the president of the Oakland Cemetery Association. In addition, Marty is a member of the Warren County Historical Society even after the expiration of his term as president there.

Marty often visits Devon in NYC so the distance doesn’t stop them from staying close. They talk every day and Devon enthusiastically declared that the two are “A legendary team of best friends. We do everything possible together. We’re besties and we’re goofy,” she said while mentioning the time that they put chairs outside of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in Herald Square, to emulate what people of Warren County do for the 4th of July parade and then posted the photo on social media for laughs. It’s clear that these two enjoy life together.

When asked what she enjoys the most about coming home to Warren, Devon responded, “It’s just quiet and so beautiful here. I get to smell the grass. I enjoy kayaking and the small town feel and the little connections made.” She continued to share that recently while she has been home teaching at the summer music school, she was assigned to teach a class with someone that seemed familiar. It turns out that her now co-teacher, Bill Eckstrom, once owned a music shop and he was the one who sold her the first professional model trumpet her dad bought her at age 19, on which she still plays to this day. She wanted to get really good at trumpet and until she came along, he was never going to sell it but he said he knew she was going to do great with it.

Dad and daughter are enjoying an extended time together this summer with the highly anticipated semiquincentennial; the two have something planned everyday together while she is in Warren.

“My dad has been absolutely invaluable my whole life but in the last three years, I have gotten cancer, survived it, gotten married, divorced; and my new house in Brooklyn flooded.” Her NYU students raised money to repair it. Devon continued, “But my dad has just been the one constant through all of that. The past few years have been super tough AND super beautiful and he’s been there every step of the way.”

Marty remarked how he and Devon have been super close from day one- from fishing to cutting wood, he never left home without her.

Devon said, “Make sure as you get older, you let your parents be your best friends. I am lucky enough to have a mom who got me started in music and put me on the right path. My mother showed me how to love music, how to consume music, how to fill the room, how to love, how to be brave and how to be kind.”

“My dad taught me resilience and that there’s always someone in my corner; no matter what I choose to do, there’s always going to be someone to support me. And if I can dream it, I can probably do it. So far I have a 10 out of 10 record for that because he’s my best friend. We still have what we call “Daddy and Little Girl Days.”

Marty Meddock’s advice to fathers, “Get involved with your daughter just as you would with your son. The activities may be different but the passion will be the same.”