Kappa Kappa Psi - Alpha Chapter

Oklahoma State University

Serving the OSU Bands and Striving for the Highest Since 1919

Boh Quick Facts

• Boh was born in Frantisky, Bohemia on September 23, 1878.

• Boh's first instrument was the "Albert System" clarinet, which his uncle taught him to play.

• Boh came to the United States at the age of 17 and worked as an apprentice to a cigar maker in Nebraska.

• Boh received only six years of formal education throughout his life.

• Boh served as band director and music department head at Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University) from 1915 to 1943.

• Boh was the first honorary member of both Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.

• Boh's trademarks were his uncrushed black bowtie and his saxophone-shaped pipe, which he called "my best friend."

• Some of Boh's close friends were men such as John Philip Sousa, Henry Fillmore and A. A. Harding.

• Boh liked to call certain rare instruments owned by the university (such as the sarrusophone, hecklephone and contrabass clarinet) his "pets."

• Boh received an honorary Ph.D. in Music from the University of Tulsa.

• Boh was a 33rd degree Mason, the highest degree of Masonry.

• Boh was listed in "Who's Who Among American Musicians."

• Boh was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

• Boh was made an honorary chief of the Kiowa Indian Tribe.  His Kiowa name became "The Great Father of Oklahoma Music," and he was given a war bonnet by the tribe.

• Boh passed away June 12, 1950 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.