Herbert Willard Fawcett, 82, died on February 13, 2016. After high school graduation in 1951 he joined the Navy music program and was Honorably Discharged in 1955. Later that year he entered the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia as a student of Sol Schoenbach, principal bassoon in the Philadelphia Orchestra, who became his long-time mentor. During his senior year at Curtis, he played bassoon with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Later  in the year, he toured as principal bassoon with the Boston Pops Orchestra. After graduating from Curtis, he and his wife, Patricia Kirk, a flutist, played together in several notable orchestras – The Houston Symphony under Leopold Stokowski, the Santa Fe Opera and the Phoenix Symphony. Though his love of music never waned, he decided he could better support a family as a dentist. While playing with the Phoenix Symphony Herb attended three years of pre-dental school at ASU in Tempe.  At ASU he also served on the music faculty as an instructor in bassoon and played in the faculty woodwind quintet.  He then attended the UCSF dental school program as a Regent's Scholar from 1964 to 1967.  He completed dental school at UCSF and established a dental practice in Concord, CA. Herb and Pat divorced in 1975. He married Malgorzata (Gosia) Opalska in 1984. After retiring from dentistry in 2003, Herb continued to play in community orchestras, teach young students, and make bassoon reeds for world-class players. Herb is survived by his wife, Gosia Fawcett, a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, a step-daughter and her two children.