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Friends and students are mourning the loss of a beloved music instructor in Winona.

Patti Finley, 50, died Thursday at a Memphis hospital.

Finley, an elementary school music teacher, was with the Winona Show Choir on Feb. 2, when the group recorded "Rise Above" at the Delta Music Institute at Delta State University. The choir is comprised of students from kindergarten through 12th grade in the Winona School District. It is preparing a demo to be considered in a Kennedy Center Honors program, which will including a trip to Washington, D.C., and a visit with President Obama.

During an interview that day, Finley said she had been told to, "get my things in order." She wasn't expected to live long enough to see the completion of the project.

Friends say she denied chemotherapy in recent weeks so she could continue working with the choir.

Before Finley's death, the choir returned to DSU to record the video portion of the package that will be submitted to the Kennedy Center.

On Wednesday, she was taken to a Memphis hospital for treatment. She died there on Thursday.

Funeral arrangements were pending Friday at Oliver Funeral Home, Winona.




Patti Finley, seated in DMI Studio A, directs the Winona Show Choir during the recording of her original song, "Rise Above."

Inspiration visited Delta State University’s Delta Music Institute (DMI) on Tuesday, Jan. 26, in the form of the Winona School District Show Choir. Approximately 135 choir members in grades four through 12 gathered in Studio A of the DMI to record a song to be entered in the Kennedy Center School of Distinction in Arts Education competition.

Winona Elementary School Music Teacher Patti Finley directs the choir and arranged for the recording session with DMI Director Tricia Walker. “Patti has done an incredible job with these students and we were happy to welcome them to Delta State and introduce them to the DMI,” said Walker. “Studio A is a large format tracking room capable of accommodating up to 150 musicians and is probably the only recording studio in the region that has a recording environment to handle a choir of this size.”