Austin Lovelace dies at age of 91

Martha Novak Clinkscale, American musicologist and researcher in the history of the early piano, died in Dallas on April 24 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born in Akron, Ohio (June 16, 1933), Dr. Clinkscale held piano performance degrees from the University of Louisville (Kentucky) and Yale University, and the PhD in musicology from the University of Minnesota. Her two-volume study Makers of the Piano 1700–1820 and Makers of the Piano 1820–1860 (both published by Oxford University Press) comprises nearly a thousand pages of carefully detailed information about extant instruments: an invaluable and oft-quoted source.
The introductory essays to these books immediately reveal both a mastery of vocabulary and the wide-ranging extent and geographical distribution of the many colleagues who contributed information about the instruments listed. Two short examples from the second volume: “Those musicians who preferred the caress of the clavichord’s tangent found in the early square pianoforte a felicitous addition to their musical experience” (p. ix); “[This book] is not intended to be a frivolous addition to its owners’ libraries. It seeks to inform . . .” (p. x).
Precise and carefully crafted prose as well as the avowed intent to maintain a consistency of style were also hallmarks of the author’s approach to life. John Watson, creator of the technical drawings accompanying the second volume and primary collaborator in a related online database Early Pianos 1720–1860, summed it up succinctly: “She was an elegant woman.”
Martha Clinkscale served the American musical community in many capacities, including as editor of the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society (1993–6) and as treasurer of the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society (2004–8). She taught at the University of California, Riverside (1979–96) and the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University (1998–2004), where she was also a member of the organ department’s examining juries each semester of her years in Dallas.
Survivors include daughter Lise Loeffler-Welton and son Thor Loeffler, as well as professional colleagues and friends on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
—Larry Palmer

Anna G. Fiore-Smith died in Fall River, Rhode Island, on November 11, 2009, at the age of 81. She studied piano at the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School, and studied organ with Homer Humphrey and later with George Faxon at the New England Conservatory; she also studied with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau, France, winning first prizes in piano, organ, chamber music, and solfège. Fiore-Smith served as organist and choir director at St. Stephen’s Church, the Church of the Ascension, and Temple Beth El, all in Providence, R.I., and later at the Barrington Congregational Church; she also taught organ at Barrington College. A former dean of the Rhode Island AGO chapter, her name was given to a chapter award that is bestowed on a member organist who typifies her devotion to the organ. She was also active in the Greater Fall River Symphony Society, and was a member of its first executive board. Anna G. Fiore-Smith was preceded in death by her husband, Harold N. Smith; she is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Faust D. and Susanne Fiore, and many nieces and nephews.

Martin Owen Gemoets died on February 3 in Galveston, Texas. He was 42. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Houston, and a master’s degree in organ from the University of North Texas at Denton in 1996. A member of the Dallas and later Fort Worth AGO chapter, Gemoets held the AAGO and ChM certifications and promoted interest in the certification exams, writing articles on music history for the Fort Worth chapter’s newsletter. He was working toward his FAGO certification. He had recently relocated to Galveston. Martin Owen Gemoets was interred next to his father in Houston during a private graveside service.

Donald M. Gillett died April 3 in Hagerstown, Maryland, at the age of 90. He was the last president of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts, which closed in 1972. Born April 8, 1919, in Southwick, Massachusetts, he earned a degree in business administration from the University of Maryland. He served four years in the Army Air Corps, stationed in Midland, Texas, as a chaplain’s assistant.
Don’s musical interest started when he was four years old, his parents having taken him to a number of organ recitals at the Municipal Auditorium in Springfield, Massachusetts. He started piano lessons at age six with Dorothy Mulroney, the Municipal Auditorium organist. After moving to Washington, D.C., he studied piano and organ with Lewis Atwater, organist at All Souls Unitarian Church and also Washington Hebrew Congregation. Don’s interest in organbuilding also started with the study of the organ.
His first organbuilding job was with Lewis & Hitchcock in Washington, D.C. Four years later in 1951, with a desire to learn voicing and tonal finishing, he was hired at Aeolian-Skinner, working under G. Donald Harrison and reed voicer Herbert Pratt. In later years, Don became a vice president and head tonal finisher. Upon the retirement of Joseph Whiteford in 1968, Don was offered the opportunity to buy up controlling interest in Aeolian-Skinner, and then became president and tonal director.
In the early 1970s, Aeolian-Skinner was building its last three instruments: St. Bartholomew’s NYC, Trinity Wall Street, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The company was in the final stages of Chapter 11 and eventual closing. Don’s last finishing for Aeolian-Skinner was the Kennedy Center.
In March 1972, Riley Daniels, president of the M. P. Möller Organ Company in Hagerstown, offered Don a job at Möller as head flue pipe voicer. After the death of John Hose, Möller’s tonal director, Don became tonal director, and eventually vice president. He retired from Möller in 1991.
Also an avid art collector, he served on the Board of Directors of the Washington County (Maryland) Museum of Fine Arts. Donald M. Gillett is survived by his companion of 40 years, Warren S. Goding of Hagerstown; sister-in-law, Jane Mace of Palm City, Florida; and cousin, Mary Davis of Fort Lee, New Jersey.
—Irv Lawless
Hagerstown, Maryland

Frances M. Heusinkveld, 83 years old, died February 22 in Forest City, Iowa. She attended Northwestern Junior College in Orange City, Iowa, and Central College in Pella, where she studied piano and began organ lessons. She pursued a master’s degree in piano at the University of Iowa and later eared a Ph.D. in organ literature there. Heusinkveld taught in various schools in Iowa, including Upper Iowa University and for 33 years at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, where she taught theory, music appreciation, piano, and organ. She was also organist of the United Methodist Church in Storm Lake, where she helped the church install a Bedient organ in 2002. Heusinkveld earned the Service Playing, Colleague, and AAGO certifications, and served as dean of the Buena Vista AGO chapter; she also played the cello and was a member of the Cherokee Symphony Orchestra. She enjoyed the study of foreign languages and traveled extensively. Frances M. Heusinkveld is survived by two brothers and many nieces and nephews.

Richard Dunn Howell died January 26 in Dallas. He was 78. Born in Great Bend, Kansas, he began playing for church services at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita at the age of 13. He graduated from Wichita University in 1954 and Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in 1957; he received a master of sacred music degree from Southern Methodist University in 1966. Howell taught elementary music in Richardson and Dallas, and played for many children’s, youth, and adult choirs. He also directed various handbell ensembles. In the course of his activities, he worked with Austin Lovelace and Lloyd Pfautsch. Richard Dunn Howell is survived by his wife of 52 years, Bradley Sue, three children, and three grandchildren.

Austin C. Lovelace, composer and church organist, and Minister of Music, Emeritus, at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver, died April 25 at the age of 91. Born March 26, 1919, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, he began serving as a church organist when he was 15 and went on to do workshops and recitals in 45 states and six countries. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music at High Point College in North Carolina in 1939 and his master’s (1941) and doctorate (1950) in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Lovelace was a chaplain’s assistant in the Navy and served as minister of music at a number of churches, including First Baptist Church and First Methodist in High Point, North Carolina; Holy Trinity Episcopal, Lincoln, Nebraska; Myers Park Presbyterian Church and Myers Park Baptist, Charlotte, North Carolina; First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro; First Methodist, Evanston, Illinois; Christ Methodist, New York City; Lover’s Lane Methodist in Dallas, and Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church and Wellshire Presbyterian in Denver.
He was still filling in as organist at area churches when he was 87. He taught at several colleges, including Queen’s College and Davidson College in North Carolina, Union Theological Seminary, Iliff School of Theology in Denver, and Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Lovelace was fond of jazz. Twice, he had Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington, both with their bands, join the choir at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church for performances. Lovelace, known for his sense of humor, wrote five books, including “Hymns That Jesus Would Not Have Liked.” A prolific writer and composer, Lovelace has several hundred compositions in print, as well as numerous articles and books on church hymnody; he was involved with twenty denominations in the development of their hymnals. A past president and Fellow of the Hymn Society of America, Lovelace was also active in the American Guild of Organists, including serving as dean of the North Shore chapter. In 2009 he received the American Music Research Center’s Distinguished Achievement Award, and was honored by the Denver Chapter of the American Guild of Organists with a hymn festival.
Austin Lovelace is survived by his wife of 69 years, Pauline Palmer (“Polly”) Lovelace, daughter Barbara Lovelace Williams, and a grandson.

Kent S. Dennis died January 1 at the age of 78 in Midland, Michigan. Trained as a chemist, Dr. Dennis had a long career at Dow Chemical Co. in Midland; he retired in 1986 after 32 years as a senior research associate. He served as organist at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Midland for 47 years, and was named organist emeritus in 2003. There he performed annual organ recitals for 46 years; he also taught organ students for many years. A charter member of the Saginaw Valley AGO chapter, serving as dean for three terms, he also served on the board of managers of the Midland Center for the Arts and as president of the Midland Symphony Orchestra, which, with the Music Society, honored him as Musician of the Year in 1987.
In 2002 Steven Egler commissioned an organ piece, Fantasia on Dennis, by David Gillingham in honor of Dr. Dennis. With his technical background, he built a pipe organ in his home, and when his health declined, he donated the instrument to St. Joseph the Worker Church in Beal City, Michigan. He was predeceased by his parents, a sister, and a brother. Memorials may be made to the Kent S. Dennis AGO Scholarship Fund, Saginaw Valley AGO Chapter, Gregory Largent, Dean, 121 South Harrison St., Saginaw, MI 48602.

August Humer died January 17 in Linz, Austria, at the age of 59. He had studied organ and harpsichord with Anton Heiller and Isolde Ahlgrimm in Vienna; after finishing his diploma, he traveled to the U.S., where he began an active career as a recitalist under the management of Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. In 1972–74 he won prizes at the international competitions in Innsbruck and Nuremberg, and subsequently performed in Europe and in North America.
In 1972 he was appointed head of the organ and historical keyboard instruments department at the Bruckner Konservatorium in Linz, Austria. He became organist at Linz Old Cathedral in 1975, and made numerous recordings on its organ, a three-manual instrument by Franz Xavier Chrismann (1768) and Josef Breinbauer (1867). Professor Humer was a frequent visiting lecturer in Europe and the U.S., and served as an adviser to the historical instrument collection of the Upper Austria Regional Museum.

Herbert James Keeler died September 6, 2006, in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the age of 67. He began piano studies at age six, and in his teens began playing the organ in his father’s church. In 1961 he graduated from Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he earned two music degrees, one in organ. In 1966 he moved to New York City and began a 29-year career with Western Electric, retiring as a computer systems analyst. Mr. Keeler served as organist for numerous churches and was an active member of the AGO. He was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his wife of 40 years, Carole. A memorial service was held September 17, 2006, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Greensboro.

Paul S. Robinson died February 15 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at the age of 99. Born March 8, 1907, in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Westminster College in 1929 and began study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia that same year. His first venture into North Carolina was in 1932 as the summer organist at Duke University where he continued for 10 years. After obtaining a master’s degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, he became a year-round North Carolina resident in 1938 as organist for Centenary United Methodist Church in downtown Winston-Salem. There he started his long association as organist and accompanist for the Mozart Club’s annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah.
The 1941 presentation was December 7, during which the Messiah radio broadcast was interrupted by the news of the Pearl Harbor attack. Two months later, Paul was inducted into the Army’s Third Armored Division as a chaplain’s assistant. He traveled with them in England, France and Germany, where he played a folding reed organ for services.
Discharged in 1945, he returned to Centenary United Methodist staying until he started doctoral studies, also at Union Theological Seminary, where he received a Doctor of Sacred Music degree in 1951. In 1952, he came to Wake Forest College for a temporary position at about the same time as another temporary instructor, Mary Frances McFeeters. Within a few years, they became indispensable both to Wake Forest and to each other. Paul and Mary Frances were married in 1955, and they moved with the college to the new Winston-Salem campus in 1956. He served as professor of music and university organist until his retirement in 1977, and was the organist for Wake Forest Baptist Church from 1956 to 1993. He continued accompanying Messiah until 1997.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Frances Robinson; two daughters, and two grandchildren. Donations in his memory may be made to Wake Forest Baptist Church, P.O. Box 7326, Winston-Salem, NC 27109. —Scott Carpenter

William E. Seifert died December 26, 2006 in Campobello, South Carolina, at the age of 71. A graduate of Wofford College, he later earned a master of divinity degree from Duke University and a master of education degree from Western Carolina University; he was a United Methodist minister for many years and also taught in South Carolina public schools. After retirement he worked for the Dower Organ Building Co., builders of the organ at Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross in Tryon, North Carolina, where he was a member. Mr. Seifert was dean of the Spartanburg AGO chapter from 1988 to 1989, and at the time of his death was the chapter’s chaplain. He is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, three sisters, and seven grandchildren.
John Edward Williams died on March 16 at his home in Spartanburg, South Carolina, after a bout with esophageal cancer. He was 87. For 43 years he had served First Presbyterian Church as organist/choirmaster and was elected an elder of the congregation. On his retirement in 1991, Converse College conferred on him the honorary degree Doctor of Music in recognition of his significant contribution to the cultural life of the community. The church further honored him in 1995 by dedicating a new Schoenstein organ, named for him, in their chapel. He had supervised the installation of the church’s large Aeolian-Skinner sanctuary organ in 1968. Recognized as a leader in church music circles, he was widely known and highly esteemed throughout his denomination and the whole region. He was especially helpful to fellow musicians of all denominations.
Dr. Williams graduated in music from Illinois Wesleyan College in 1941, joined the U.S. Navy, and served throughout World War II in London, where he played for American servicemen and, on occasion, for Queen Elizabeth and her father, King George VI. He also performed at the Glasgow Cathedral. After the war he entered the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York, graduating in 1948 with an MSM degree. There he studied organ with Robert Baker and Hugh Porter, composition with Harold Friedell, and the history of music with Clarence and Helen Dickinson.
From Union he came directly to Spartanburg and set about mustering support for the founding of a local chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Success came in 1954 when he became a charter member of the new chapter and, at the same time, inaugurated the Spartanburg Oratorio Society, directing for several years its performances of major choral and orchestral masterpieces. He was known and loved for his lively sense of humor, witty repartee, and buoyant personality. He maintained high artistic standards and refined taste. He enjoyed popular music and jazz, but he never allowed these secular elements to intrude into his music for worship.
He was married to Patricia Gilmore Williams, a distinguished local artist and portraitist who predeceased him by several years. He is survived by a sister in Illinois, two married daughters, a married son, five grandchildren, and a great-grandson. A memorial service was held at First Presbyterian Church on March 20. Donations in his memory may be sent to the Dr. John E. Williams Music Scholarship Fund in care of First Presbyterian Church, 393 E. Main St., Spartanburg, SC 29302.
—John M. Bullard

Donald R. Traser is the author of The Organ in Richmond (reviewed in The Diapason, December 2002). Organist and/or choirmaster of several Richmond-area churches since 1970, he has served as organist/choirmaster at Second Presbyterian Church, Petersburg, Virginia, since 2009, and is a past dean of the Richmond, Virginia AGO chapter. Traser played the carillon for 27 years, including the Taft Carillon in Washington, D.C. for Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural parade. He has written four books and numerous articles on such topics as hymnology (life member of The Hymn Society), trains, travel, organs, and stained glass. He is currently working on a book about stained glass in Richmond.

Austin Lovelace died April 25 at the age of 91. (See the “Nunc Dimittis” in the June issue of The Diapason, page 10.)

Austin Lovelace and I first became acquainted at one of the annual meetings of The Hymn Society, which Austin attended regularly. Subsequently, I began sending church bulletins to him and many other composers when I played their compositions and listed them in the bulletin. Some composers have never even acknowledged receipt of a bulletin, but Austin always sent a kind note and had many nice things to say.
He spent time in Virginia at Camp Peary from 1944 to 1946, played several recitals at Bruton Parish Church, and sang tenor for a Messiah performance in Richmond. A niece lived in the area, but with him in Denver in recent years, their paths seldom crossed. Austin remembered Jim Sydnor and knew Mary Ann Gray, as well as her better-known sister Charlotte Garden, from his time at Union Seminary. Unaware that Mary Ann was still going strong, he remarked, “Old organists never fade—they just diapason.”
Austin was the first of a number of composers to have written an organ work for me, in 2003. One of his anthems, The Lord My Shepherd Is, was written many years ago for his children’s choir in Evanston, Illinois. It has such a beautiful bel canto melody that I asked if he’d ever written an organ piece based on that tune. He replied, “No. Would you like me to?” Before I could even respond, the manuscript arrived in the mail—two variations: the first chordal and pretty straightforward, the second a delightful little trio. He commented, “I doubt if it will take too much time for you to work out any fingerings. When in doubt, just pick up the finger!”
Sometime later, Alice Jordan began writing a postlude for me on the tune Ora Labora, one for which little has been written for the organ. Austin sent me a copy of his Partita on “Ora Labora,” published by H. W. Gray, which I was able to use as a prelude on the Sunday when I premiered Alice’s postlude. Austin wrote, “As you will notice, I dedicated it to the memory of T. Tertius Noble, who was one of the teachers at Union in 1939–41. I had composition with him but really learned nothing helpful. His approach was to rework anything you did to sound like T. Tertius Noble. And yet I must have learned something, for my first two anthems—Be Known to Us in Breaking Bread and Let This Mind Be in You—are . . . still in print!”
A few months shy of his 88th birthday, Austin wrote, “I find that I’m not as gung-ho about doing things as I was for so long. But I’m still writing a lot of hymn preludes for organ for Darcey Press . . . and Wayne Leupold . . . I also have written several anthems but can’t find a publisher interested in what I want to write. I refuse to take the low road! But I can’t complain about my long career approaching its conclusion. My philosophy has been to bloom where planted—and I’ve been lucky to land in some pretty good soil in all of my jobs.”
The Darcey Press preludes are part of the “Musical Gifts” series, and I was given the original manuscript for the prelude on Dove of Peace. Despite the perceived lack of publisher interest, Emerson Music has 17 Lovelace anthems in its catalog, the most recent a setting of “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” which came out in 2009. He would often send me complimentary copies, folded to fit in a letter-size envelope.
After I began serving at Second Presbyterian in Petersburg, I asked Austin (then age 90) for an anthem for my choir, and in short order we had a new choral work entitled Hymn at Dawn. I suggested several texts, from which he chose “High O’er the Lonely Hills” (No. 473 in The Hymnal 1940). After we sang it, Austin wrote a note to the choir: “Thank you for letting me write an anthem for you and the church. Donald says that you sang it well, but that some thought it was a bit difficult. Congratulations—yes, it is a bit difficult! As a composer, I always let the words tell me where to go, and that text . . . posed plenty of problems for me with its shifting moods and pictures . . . But I think that I came close to letting the different moods come through with my music. The nice thing about repeating anthems is that every time you will find new and fresh insights coming to you . . .”
My last Austin-gram was dated October 14, 2009. The Denver AGO and Wellshire Presbyterian Church, from which he retired, had just celebrated his 90 years and seven decades of composing. He described it: “The choir was magnificent, the organist spectacular, and the Young Singers of Colorado beautiful. The church was packed—added chairs in the narthex, and the offering of over $3,600 went to the Lovelace Scholarship Fund of The Hymn Society. My nephew (in a wheelchair), his wife, and sister flew here from Suffolk, Virginia for the event, and we had a great family get-together—hard to arrange these days. I’m still in disbelief! Carl Daw . . . came from Boston to speak, Carlton (Sam) Young was Master of Ceremonies with much humor, and John Yarrington came from Houston, Texas to be one of the conductors. Now I’ll have to start planning for 100 & 8 decades!”
I’m sure that many people join in my regret that such a celebration won’t take place. 

James Leslie Boeringer, born March 4, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died January 12 of pancreatic cancer. He earned a BA in organ performance from the College of Wooster (Ohio) in 1952, an MA in musicology from Columbia University in 1954, a doctorate in sacred music from the former Union Theological Seminary in New York, New York, in 1964, and completed post-doctoral studies at New York University. Boeringer received associate certification from the American Guild of Organists in 1953. He presented recitals in organ and harpsichord in 20 of the United States, and in England and France.

Beginning with his first church position, as organist of Homewood Baptist Church in Pittsburgh in November 1947, he served churches in Ohio, New Jersey, New York City, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and London, England. He moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1992 and served as organist at Church of the Pilgrims (Presbyterian) Washington, Messiah Lutheran Church in Germantown, and Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, in Georgetown, playing his last service December 29, 2013, just two weeks before his death.  

Boeringer served as executive director of the Moravian Music Foundation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as university organist and on the faculty at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee; at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, he was a professor and chair of the music department. A Phillips Distinguished Visitor at Haverford College, he founded the Krisheim Church Music Conference in Philadelphia, and directed the Creative Arts Festival at Susquehanna University from 1972 to 1975, and the Moravian Music Festival in 1981 and 1984.  

As a composer Boeringer wrote 23 published original works for chorus and organ, organ solo, chamber ensemble, and other combinations, including a cantata and a song cycle; and about 50 unpublished pieces, including an oratorio with full orchestra. He wrote more than 25 hymn tunes and hymn texts, some of which appear in Baptist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Moravian, and ecumenical hymnals. Selected works are available through the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) website (imslp.org).  

He authored the three-volume Organa Britannica: Organs in Great Britain, 1660–1860, as well as other books on hymnody and biographies of organists and composers of church music. His essays were published in periodicals and books. 

A widely published arts critic and scholar, he wrote numerous articles and reviews, which appeared in the Journal of Church Music; Moravian Music Journal; Music, the A.G.O. Magazine; The Organ Yearbook (Netherlands); The Musical Times (London); The New York Times; The American Organist; The Diapason; and The Tracker. He was the editor for the Society for Organ History and Preservation.  

Boeringer published fiction under a pseudonym. A member of Equity, he has a long list of theater credits in a variety of roles including actor, singer, director, music director, composer, narrator, and chorus arranger. He had an abiding interest in historic buildings and moved and restored two log cabins in his lifetime, and was an avid gardener.  

James Leslie Boeringer is survived by his wife of 58 years, Grace, and children Lisa Stocker, Greta, and Daniel, and a brother David.  

Peter Rasmussen Hallock died April 27, 2014, in Fall City, Washington; he was 89. A composer, organist, liturgist, and countertenor, among other activities, he was long associated with St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral of Seattle. Hallock began organ study with Clayton Johnson of Tacoma. He enrolled at the University of Washington, but was drafted into the United States Army, serving from June 1943 until February 1946 as chaplain’s assistant and sharpshooter in the Pacific theater during World War II. Returning to the University of Washington, he studied organ with Walter Eichinger and composition with George McKay, then studied at the College of St. Nicholas at the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) in Canterbury, England, becoming the first American choral scholar at Canterbury Cathedral, under the direction of Gerald Knight. He completed the RSCM program and received a bachelor of arts degree in music from the University of Washington in 1951 and master of arts degree in music from the same institution in 1958.

Peter Hallock became organist/choirmaster of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle, on October 28, 1951, a position he held until retirement in 1991. At St. Mark’s, he founded a chant study group in the mid 1950s that became known as the Compline Choir, which remains in the forefront of the resurgence of interest in the Office of Compline. He was instrumental in the cathedral’s acquisition of a four-manual Flentrop mechanical-action organ in 1965. At the cathedral, Hallock also introduced Advent and Good Friday processions as well as liturgical drama. He was named Canon Precentor, the first lay person in the Episcopal Church to hold this title, named an associate of the RSCM, and was honored with an honorary doctor of music degree by the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. In 1992, he became organist at St. Clement of Rome Episcopal Church, Seattle, remaining until March 2013. Hallock was also well known and respected for his countertenor concerts, with performances throughout the United States. As a composer, Peter Hallock created more than 250 works, from occasional church music to extended anthems, dramatic works (sacred and secular) to music specifically written for the Compline Choir. Among his many publications was The Ionian Psalter.

Peter Rasmussen Hallock is survived by his sisters, Matilda Ann Milbank of Los Altos, California, and Barbara Hallock of Kent, Washington, as well as several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. Memorial gifts may be made to the Compline Choir of St. Mark’s Cathedral or to the Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Olympia, Seattle.

Robert Burgess Lynn, 83 years old, passed away February 11 in Houston, Texas. A native of Colorado Springs, he studied organ and piano with Roy Harris, Frederick Boothroyd, and Joanna Harris while in high school. In 1952, he earned a BA at Colorado College (where he studied with Frederick Boothroyd and Max Lanner, and was chapel organist), and a master’s in organ from the Juilliard School of Music, received Honorable Mention in the AGO Young Artists’ Contest in Organ Playing in San Francisco, and married Elaine Steele, also a musician. In 1956, Lynn received a Fulbright Scholarship to study organ playing and construction with Finn Viderø under the auspices of the University of Copenhagen. His studies were briefly delayed when the family’s ship, the Stockholm, collided with the Andrea Doria, which subsequently sank. During his time in Copenhagen, he saw and played several great organs, including the organ at Sweden’s Malmö Museum, built in 1520, and at the Royal Chapel in Copenhagen, built in 1827. Lynn became a Fellow of the AGO in 1964, receiving the highest marks of any candidate in Section I of the FAGO examinations. 

Robert Lynn taught from 1954 to 1971 at Allegheny College as an assistant professor of music. In 1973, he received his PhD in musicology from Indiana University; his dissertation was entitled “Renaissance Organ Music for the Proper of the Mass in Continental Sources.” From 1971 to 1997, he served as professor of musicology at the University of Houston where he also directed the Collegium Musicum and the graduate studies program. His monograph, Valentin Haussmann (1565/70–Ca. 1614): A Thematic-Documentary Catalogue of His Works, was published by Pendragon Press. In 1997, he was named professor emeritus. 

Lynn also enjoyed visiting professorships at Rice University, Indiana University, and the University of Siegen. While a resident of Houston, Lynn was well known for his organ recitals in addition to his role as harpsichord soloist, playing in many concerts associated with the Houston Harpsichord Society (now Houston Early Music). From 1982 to 2004, he was the founding director of the Houston Bach Choir and Orchestra at Christ the King Lutheran Church. Lynn served as director of music and organist at St. Francis Episcopal Church for 25 years, and also as long-term interim organist at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church. Memorial contributions may be made to the Bach Society Houston, 2353 Rice Blvd, Houston, TX 77005, or to the Christ Church Cathedral Music Program, 1117 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002.

Fred S. Mauk died on April 7, two weeks before his 83rd birthday, after a short illness. Mauk did his undergraduate study at Stetson University and Rollins College, where he earned a degree in music, and received his master’s degree in 1958 from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He held church music positions in Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida, his last position being director of music for 33 years at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Altamonte Springs, Florida, where he retired in 2011; at St. Mark’s he installed a pipe organ (purchased from a church in North Carolina) in the sanctuary.

An active member of the Central Florida AGO chapter, Mauk served in many chapter positions, including dean, and was instrumental in coordinating the 1993 regional AGO convention in Orlando. He was also known for his encouragement of young musicians, his sense of humor, his organizational skills, his many interests, including old cars and antique car shows, and his ability to work well with everyone. 

Mary Lou McCarthy-Artz, age 78, died at her home in Plymouth, Indiana, on May 7. Born November 18, 1935, Mary Lou Smith graduated from high school in 1953, marrying her first husband, Joseph L. Merkel, two years later. She studied piano at the Jordan Conservatory of Music, Butler University, in Indianapolis. After her husband’s death, she married Rodney Evans and moved to Covington, Indiana, where they lived for more than twenty years. It was there, while holding down a full-time job as an executive secretary, that she began working part-time as organist at nearby Catholic parishes: St. Joseph, Covington; St. Bernard, Crawfordsville; and Holy Family, Danville, Illinois. In 1993, she began full-time ministry as organist and choir director for the motherhouse of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, Ancilla Domini, in Donaldson, Indiana. A long-time member of the American Guild of Organists, she had served as chapter dean and had recently earned her CAGO certificate. Mary Lou McCarthy-Artz is survived by her husband, Donald Artz, two daughters, Nancy Merkel Starkey of Jacksonville, Florida, and Janet Evans Snyder of Georgetown, Illinois, as well as two grandchildren. ν

John C. Campbell died March 4 in Abilene, Texas. He was 73. A long-time teacher and organist, he began piano study with his mother at age eight; his father acquired a two-manual and pedal Estey reed organ for their church, and Campbell began playing the organ in church at age 13. At Hardin-Simmons University, he studied piano with Thurman Morrison and organ with T. W. (Jack) Dean and Edward Wetherill; after graduation, he entered the U.S. Navy and for five years served as a pilot on an aircraft carrier. He later earned a master of music degree at the University of Oklahoma, studying organ with Mildred Andrews, and a doctorate at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Russell Saunders. He also studied organ with Michael Schneider and harpsichord with Hugo Ruf at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne.
Campbell taught for three years at Berea College in Kentucky, and was professor of organ and church music and university organist at Hardin-Simmons University from 1971–2000. He had also served as organist of the First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City (where he met Lillie Spurgin, whom he married in 1966), and First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas. He was a member of the Big Country AGO chapter. John C. Campbell is survived by his wife, Lillie, sons Russell and Matthew, a sister, two brothers, and uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Lawrence G. “Larry” Kelliher died on June 2 in Madison, Wisconsin. He was a lifelong resident of Madison. For the greater part of his career, he was director of music/organist at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, where he led a 70-voice choir and coordinated a regional church music workshop in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin. Kelliher received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his master’s degree in organ performance there in 1954. While attending UW-Madison, he was a teaching assistant for organ majors and an accompanist for choral groups and voice studios.
He was organist and director of music at Trinity Lutheran Church 1957–60 and at Bethel Lutheran Church 1960–92. From 1994–96, he was the organist and choir/handbell director at St. Luke’s Church in Middleton. He served as the organist for the First Unitarian Society, Luther Memorial, Holy Cross, Grace Episcopal, First Congregational, St. John’s, and Central Lutheran churches in Madison. Before retiring, he was the choir director/organist at Monona Lutheran Church. He also served as an organist for the Madison Symphony. He was dean of the Madison AGO chapter 1959–60. A memorial service was held on June 9 at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, with music led by current director of music/organist, Gary Lewis.

Hazel-Thomas Baker King died at age 71 on April 8, in Charlottesville, Virginia. An alumna of Agnes Scott College, she received a fellowship to study in Belgium with Flor Peeters. For 31 years she was organist-choirmaster at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and a member of the AGO; the Charleston chapter produced a recording of her performance on the restored 1845 Erben organ at the French (Huguenot) Church. Mrs. King was also featured in recitals at Piccolo Spoleto. A talented choral director, she had studied at the Royal School of Church Music in England, and served as director of choral activities at Ashley Hall School, was accompanist for the Charleston Symphony Singers’ Guild, and was a member of the Charleston Baroque Singers. Hazel-Thomas King is survived by her husband, two children, one sister, and three grandchildren.

Paul E. Koch died on May 12 at age 79 in Springfield, Illinois. Born May 24, 1929 in Vanlue, Ohio, he was a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University (BMus), the Naval School of Music, and Union Theological Seminary (MSM). He served in the Army 1951–54 as a bandsman and chaplain’s assistant. He held church music positions as organist and choir director in churches in Oak Park, Springfield, and Decatur, Illinois. He was active in the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, the American Guild of Organists, the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, and the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.
Koch played recitals and was a published composer; among his works are a volume of handbell music, a work for flute and organ, five anthems, two organ works, and two hymns. He taught numerous piano and organ students, and he was also a communications consultant with Illinois Bell Telephone 1970–1982. Paul E. Koch is survived by his wife Susan, three sons, a daughter, two stepdaughters, a sister, two grandchildren, and five stepgrandchildren.

George M. Williams, director of music and organist at the Northfield Community Church (UCC) of Northfield, Illinois since 1967, died June 11, after a nine-month battle with recurrent lymphoma. Williams was a member of the American Guild of Organists, past dean of the North Shore chapter, and a trustee at the Music Institute of Chicago. In 2007, on the occasion of his fortieth anniversary at Northfield Community Church, the church established an endowed organ scholarship in perpetuity in his name at the Music Institute of Chicago.
Born December 3, 1935, Williams was a graduate of Chicago Musical College (now the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University), where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees and won the Oliver Ditson Award in organ. He later became an instructor of organ at his alma mater, and he taught music and conducted the chorus for ten years at Englewood High School in the Chicago Public School System. In 1968, he joined the faculty of Loop Junior College (now Harold Washington College), one of the City Colleges of Chicago, where he taught music theory, piano, and vocal music for thirty-four years.
Williams retired from the college in 2002 as an associate professor. In addition to being an organ recitalist, church musician and conductor, Williams was classical music critic for The Chicago Crusader, the oldest African-American-owned Chicago area weekly newspaper. George M. Williams is survived by his wife, the former Barbara Wright-Pryor, two children and two grandchildren.

Martin J. Argall, 91, MCPO U.S.N. Ret., died January 23. Argall grew up in Chicago, playing piano. He won a citywide piano contest at age 11, but because of the Great Depression, his family could not afford formal training. By high school, he began playing organ, often practicing on the theatre organ at the Symphony Theater, where the owner would accompany him on his violin. Argall was active as an organist in Chicago. A 33rd-degree Scottish Rite Mason, he served as organist for over 50 years for Masonic lodges, including 20 years for the Scottish Rite Cathedral. He was a member of the Medinah Shrine Temple, serving there as organist for 20 years, and as a volunteer at Shriner’s Hospital for Children for 12 years. A member of the American Guild of Organists for 70 years, Argall was organist for 30 years at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Charlotte, two daughters, four grandchildren, and a brother.

Lloyd E. Cast, Jr. died on January 26. He was 75. Born in Hollywood, California, he received bachelor and master of music degrees from Indiana University, as well as a Doctor of Music (honoris causa) from Nashotah House Seminary, Nashotah, Wisconsin. He was organist and director of music, emeritus of the Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, where he served for 37 years. Cast served as dean of the Bloomington, Indiana, and Eastern New York chapters of the AGO and was on the board of directors of the Royal School of Church music in America. He is survived by his partner of 45 years, William L. (Roy) Gordon, a brother, two nieces, a nephew, and four grand nephews.

August E. Knoll, 65, died unexpectedly on February 7 at his home in Wheatland, Iowa. His death was discovered when he failed to appear for his scheduled work as organist of St. Paul United Church of Christ on Sunday morning.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, November 11, 1942, he graduated from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and received his master’s degree from the University of Iowa. He was band master of Calamus-Wheatland schools for 39 years, receiving many awards on a state and local level. He was minister of music at St. Paul’s for 38 years. Knoll held leadership positions in both the River Valley and Blackhawk AGO chapters and the Eastern Iowa OHS chapter, of which he was a founding member. He was an annual recitalist on the Clermont Organ Series, helping thereby to maintain public support for the 1896 Kimball organ in the Union Sunday School building, a state historical site.
Knoll was a familiar and beloved supporter of many organ events in the tri-state area of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. He was an inveterate convention-goer at meetings of both the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. He served on the committee that planned and executed the 1986 OHS convention in eastern Iowa.
August Knoll was well known as a successful mentor of many music students, and many of these students went into careers in music. He was also a familiar figure playing and directing in many community bands throughout the area. His constant support and interest in all things musical will be deeply missed.
—Mark R. Nemmers

Karlheinz Stockhausen, age 79, died December 5, 2007. He began musical studies at age six, with a local organist, Franz-Josef Kloth, and studied composition with Swiss composer Frank Martin in Cologne and with Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud in Paris. An influential German composer, he was prominent in the avant-garde movement in the mid to late 20th century; he wrote many compositions that included electronic sound. His 362 compositions include 45 choral works. He founded the Stockhausen Foundation for Music in 1994, to preserve his works and provide instructions on performing his music. Details can be found at <www.stockhausen.org&gt;.

Lyndell P. Watkins, Sr., died November 13, 2007 at the age of 85. Born in Kensett, Arkansas, he played piano as a youth, winning a talent contest held by a Memphis radio station. During World War II he served as a chaplain’s assistant, providing music for religious services. Following the war, he graduated from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and did graduate study with Marilyn Mason at the University of Michigan, and doctoral study with Jon Spong at the University of Missouri (Kansas City) Conservatory of Music. He was music department head at Arkansas College (now Lyon College) for 14 years, associate professor of music at Delta State University in Mississippi for 23 years, and served as organist-choir director at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Mississippi, and First Presbyterian Church, Greenville, Mississippi. A long-time member of the AGO (Jackson, Mississippi chapter), he also held memberships in the Mississippi Music Teachers Association, the Music Teachers National Association, and the Organ Historical Society. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Doris Darby Watkins, a daughter, two sons, and four grandchildren.

Richard Westenburg, a choral conductor who founded the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra in 1964, died February 20 in Norwalk, Connecticut, at the age of 75. Born in Minneapolis, Westenburg won several small piano competitions as a child. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in organ at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and a master’s in musicology, with a minor in film, at the University of Minnesota. In 1959 he went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, Pierre Cochereau and Jean Langlais. After two years as director of music at the First Unitarian Church in Worcester, Massachusetts, he moved to New York in 1962 and enrolled at the Union Theological Seminary, joining the seminary faculty in 1963 and completing his doctorate in sacred music in 1968.
In 1964 Westenburg was hired as organist and choirmaster at Central Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, and he quickly assembled an early version of the Musica Sacra Choir. He was also music director of the Collegiate Chorale from 1973 to 1980 and a lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1979 to 1982. In 1990 he became music director at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.
In addition to conducting, Westenburg taught choral music and conducting at the Mannes College of Music from 1971 to 1977, and led the choral department at the Juilliard School from 1977 to 1989. He was also a visiting professor at Rutgers University from 1986 to 1992. He is survived by his two sons, two daughters, and six grandchildren.