Jules Herman, 93; Played Trumpet for Lawrence Welk, ‘Waltz King’ Wayne King

Jules Herman, 93, a former trumpet player for Lawrence Welk, died Friday of heart failure at his home in Mendota Heights, Minn., his daughter said.

Herman grew up on a farm near Milnor, N.D., and taught music in Gardner, N.D., until a fellow North Dakotan, Welk, asked him to join his orchestra. In 1940 Herman married singer Lois Best, one of several female musicians Welk featured over the years with the title “Champagne Lady.”

The couple eventually left the band to raise a family, settling in Chicago where Herman played trumpet for the Griff Williams Society Band at the city’s famed Palmer House during World War II, his daughter said. He later joined Wayne King “the Waltz King” before forming his own band.

In 1950 he and his family moved to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and he led the house orchestra at the former Prom Ballroom in St. Paul for 35 years. His wife played the organ and sang in the group, which backed such stars as Pat Boone, Connie Francis and Bobby Darin.