Dear OMSF family. part of our journey is losing those you love. We are sad to inform you that Justin Locke, who was part of our glorious mentoring family has passed. Please check out the marvelous contributions Justin gave to the world, a world where kindness and humor would get us through moments like this.

Justin Locke, veteran member of the Boston Pops Orchestra, author, video producer, public speaker, and handyman passed away after a cerebral hemorrhage in Lincoln MA Dec. 3, 2022. He was 67 years old. A graduate of Maumee Valley Country Day School in Toledo, OH, he also studied string bass at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Justin was a talented writer and musician with a brilliant comedic mind. His delightfully humorous book – Real Men Don’t Rehearse (2005) – recounts 18 years of playing with the Boston Pops orchestra under renowned conductors Arthur Fiedler, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Keith Lockhart and others. He was well known in the Boston media, featured on various programs such as Chronicle, Beat the Press, and Jordan Rich.

He was profoundly interested in how children learn – or fail to learn. While playing for children’s concerts, he noticed the children were distracted and bored throughout. “As was I,” he said. Challenged to write a children’s concert that would captivate and educate simultaneously, he authored a sequel to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf entitled Peter vs. the Wolf. In this humorous courtroom drama, the Wolf attempts to legally prove he did not eat the Duck. The audience becomes the jury, and the orchestra members are cross-examined by the Wolf about their instruments and how they are played. “You say your flute is a woodwind instrument yet it’s made of silver? Your Honor, how can you believe anything this witness says?”

The concert promoters were astonished to see children riveted to their seats, and Justin was commissioned to do more shows. Of these, Phantom of the Orchestra and Peter vs. the Wolf have been translated into multiple languages and are regularly performed in the USA and Europe.

In his later years he found he had a natural talent as a handyman, and he took great joy in being able to help people. He authored three more books, Principles of Applied Stupidity, Getting in Touch with Your Inner Rich Kid and A Handyman’s Guide to the Galaxy, which remain popular on Amazon.

He also became dedicated to protecting monarch butterflies and proudly raised three monarchs to adulthood on his apartment deck. His butterfly journey, videos, philosophy and world travels are chronicled on his website Justinlocke.com.

Justin was preceded in death by his parents William and Rose Mary Locke of Monclova, OH. He is survived by siblings Joseph, Jessica, Benjamin, Rebecca, and William; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

He left a legacy of belly laughs and quick wit with no match. He will be greatly missed.