Portland native Imel dies at 84

Jack Imel, who entertained millions weekly on The Lawrence Welk Show and always reminded his audience he was from Portland, Indiana, died Sunday. He was 84.

A resident of Springville, California, Imel was a fixture on the Welk show from the 1950s to the 1970s, playing the marimba, tap dancing and singing. The show, for which Imel was associate producer for 17 years, continues to live on in re-runs.

Each week, Imel recalled when speaking to the Jay County Historical Society in 2014, Welk would ask him how he wanted to be introduced, and Imel would respond, “Just say I’m from Portland, Indiana. .. I love Portland. I always have.”

Imel’s marimba is on display at Jay County Historical Museum, and a book he wrote about his Welk years has been available there.

Imel began taking dance lessons at age 4 and took up the marimba at age 9. By the time he was 12, he was performing locally and regionally.

“I bet I entered every talent contest in the state of Indiana and half of Ohio, and I never won,” he said in 2014. “But I stuck with it.”

After graduation from Portland High School, he attended Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music in Indianapolis, then landed a spot with the Horace Heidt Band. Enlisting in the Navy during the Korean War, Imel went on to win the all-Navy talent contest in 1955 and 1956.

That success attracted the attention of bandleader Welk, who had a Saturday evening program on ABC. After the show left prime time in 1982, Imel joined other Welk performers on a national tour that included a stop in Fort Wayne. More than 400 Jay County residents made the trip to that performance.

He performed for a number of years in Branson, Missouri. In 2008, he headlined a one-man show at Bearcreek Farms just six days before his 76th birthday.

Imel was born in Portland on June 9, 1932. He was married on Nov. 29, 1951, to Norma Jean Denney, who survives.

Services are pending at Williamson and Spencer Funeral Home in Portland.