Willard Shull Jr., longtime ASO violinist and motorcycle enthusiast

“He’d get on his motorcycle all the time, to take what I called an ‘attitude adjustment ride’ to relieve the constant stress perfectionists feel. He felt he had to be perfect for concert nights.”

Mr. Shull was drafted during the Korean War and assigned to the 7th Army Orchestra. He went to work part-time for the ASO in the late 1950s when it was still a fledgling group of struggling musicians. When the late maestro Robert Shaw came to town, Mr. Shull joined the ASO full time in 1967.

And he kept playing for 38 years, until the stress of being a “perfectionist” made him decide to retire in 2005 because he was afraid, his family said, that he might let himself down.

Mr. Shull, who took up the motorcycle at age 49 and rode “two-up” with his wife Suzanne Munn Shull all across Europe, Asia and the United States, died Aug. 8 in Erie, Pa., while the two were vacationing.

The cause of death was a severe internal hemorrhage, said his wife of 36 years. He was 80. His remains were cremated, and Mrs. Shull said a celebration of his life will be held in Sandy Springs on Sept. 18 at a private residence at the request of orchestra members who are out of town for the off-season.

One of his last wishes, Mrs. Shull said, was for her to “throw a big party” for his friends and family because he wouldn’t have to be there.

Though he never thought twice about playing his 1763 Landolfi violin in front of thousands, Mr. Shull was a shy man, his wife said.

“The party that we are giving for him is something he would hate,” she said. “He was baffled by that kind of interaction and wasn’t into small talk. He enjoyed people at a different level.”

And they enjoyed him.

Daughter Cecily Shull of Stockbridge said that when she was growing up in Sandy Springs the family lived for a time in an apartment building.

“When he practiced, which he had to do all the time, the people who lived below us would turn down their TV so they could listen, she said.

The Shulls eventually moved to Jasper and continued their travels. When in Europe, he’d rent a motorcycle. And in recent years he’d rent a van to take his motorcycle along.

Mrs. Shull, a former Atlanta teacher, said the couple went to Europe on Mr. Shaw’s first tour. They once rode to Nova Scotia. On their last trip, they went to the Chautauqua Institution, a fine arts center where young musicians hone their skills.

Son-in-law Gary Owen said Mr. Shull was also a master woodworker, making furniture he sold to benefit the ASO and charities.

“We were driving down Peachtree one Saturday night and pulled up to a stop light,” Mr. Owen said. “My wife said, ‘That looks like Dad,’ and it was, in his full motorcycle outfit with his violin strapped to his back.”

Mr. Shull was a mentor to ASO violist David Braitberg of Tucker.

“We went to play at Carnegie Hall and rode through mountains and the Amish country in Pennsylvania,” he said.

Mr. Braitberg said the two also shared a passion for cooking, and that Mr. Shull often prepared gourmet meals.

“He was a lovely man, patient and quiet and focused,” Mr. Shull's wife said. “It was a beautiful life.”

Other survivors include two granddaughters.