Members of Ohio State University’s alumni marching band were prepared for the death of longtime director Jon Woods when it came today at 9:30 a.m.; he had been ill and it was expected. But sadness turned to shock when a trumpeter died during practice this morning.
At roughly the same time as Woods’ death, the alumni band was practicing the signature ramp entrance that they would perform before today’s home opener football game against Hawaii. The group had run through the drill once and was preparing to repeat it when Bill Werner, 65, of Sandusky, collapsed of a suspected heart attack.