Barbara Puckett’s friends said she loved the sort of songs that could make her cry. Music was the passion of her life, and it was through her music that her friends say she will be remembered.

Students and friends gathered Monday night to celebrate the life of the long-time piano accompanist for the department of theatre, Puckett, who died earlier this month. Students sang some of her favorite emotional ballads at a service in her honor called a “Celebration of Life” in the Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall.

Puckett died in Overland Park Nov. 3, from a heart attack. Her funeral was held Nov. 6 in her hometown of Clay Center with her family in attendance. The department held the celebration in her honor to give Puckett’s former students and colleagues a chance to remember her.

Puckett has played for hundreds of students through her career as a piano teacher and accompanist. Thirteen of her students sang at last night’s service. Whitney Juneau, Lawrence senior, sang “When I Look at You” from The Scarlet Pimpernel, one of Puckett’s favorite musicals.

She said Puckett had been her accompanist for eight years, since she was a freshman in high school, and was more a friend than a teacher.

“Because we worked together for so long, I probably did take for granted that she was always there for me,” she said. “She really brought me from a little girl in high school who loved to sing to someone who was a strong performer, and I appreciate that so much more than she probably knew.”

John Staniunas, chair of the department of theatre, presided over the service. He said Barbara had been his personal accompanist and close friend, and that her greatest skill was her ability to develop a connection with the singer.

Staniunas said he and Puckett used to travel throughout the Kansas City area and perform musical theater in retirement homes, which he said was a moving experience for both of them.

“I remember one home that we went to, which was for people with Alzheimer’s,” he said. “So the audience wasn’t necessarily attentive, but you could tell they were moved. They were listening.”

Puckett had a big presence and an infectious laugh, which friends described as almost like a cackle. She had a passion for Jayhawk memorabilia, and in honor of this, Monday night the theater department dedicated a Jayhawk mural in her honor. Friends said she also had a soft spot for little things, such as her two small dogs, one of which she named “BJ” after Baby Jay. Staniunas adopted her dogs after her death.

Her son-in-law, Mike Christ, said Puckett brought stability to her family and served as a model for her grandchildren, Christ’s sons Brandon and Blake. Both wore blue Jayhawk shirts their grandmother had given them for Christmas to the service.

“She did her job well, and she did it with a lot of heart and a lot of love,” Christ said. “We’ll miss her greatly, we love her dearly, and we’ll carry on the things she gave to us.”

Puckett’s children, Michelle Christ and Sean Puckett, established a fund with the Kansas University Endowment Association for an annual scholarship for a KU musical theater student. Donations can be sent to the endowment association, PO Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044-0928.

Follow Justin Leverett at twitter.com/schmendric.

— Edited by Abby Olcese