Jerry Sande didn’t ask for much, but he gave a lot, according to Fort Dodge Area Symphony Business Manager Paul Hochmuth.

In fact, Sande gave $100,000 to the symphony for which he played the bassoon for nearly 50 years. Sande, a Humboldt native, passed away in August 2016 at the age of 66. In his last will and testament, he left the $100,000 donation to the FD Symphony, as well as $50,000 to the Humboldt Music Boosters and $15,000 to the Cherokee Symphony. He also donated his Heckel Bassoon, which was made from wood from Germany’s Black Forest, to his alma mater Iowa State University.

Sande’s world revolved around music, his older sister, Linda Arends, of Humboldt, said.

“His main passion was music,” she said. “He made his own bassoon reeds and he gave private lessons to bassoonists here in Humboldt and in Boone, where he lived when he died.”

This size of donation isn’t something the Fort Dodge Area Symphony sees very often.

“We’ve gotten like endowments in the past, but this is by far very big for a donation,” Hochmuth said.

Part of the money donated by Sande will go toward a project to honor his memory and his legacy from 48 years with the symphony.

“We’re going to look at, in his honor, having a bassoon concerto with orchestra commissioned sometime in the future here,” Hochmuth said.

He said the money will also go to fund special projects like bringing in soloists, commissioning other pieces of music and for community outreach and education.

Sande wasn’t the only longtime musician in the symphony, but his dedication and volunteerism shone through every day, Hochmuth said.

“He was coming to rehearsals, even when he moved to Boone, he was still part of the group and came back up to play,” he said. “He was part of growing the symphony into what it is now. The main core of this group is the volunteers and Jerry was part of that. He didn’t ask for much, but he gave a lot.”

The Fort Dodge Area Symphony will be beginning its 70th anniversary season with an orchestra concert at 3 p.m. today at the Fort Dodge Middle School auditorium. Sande’s donation will be announced during the concert.

Arends, along with her eldest brother, Ron Sande, will be at the concert.

“It will be great,” she said. “The whole family will be there.”