Nunc Dimittis

Herman Berlinski
died at the age of 91 on September 27 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in
Washington, after suffering a heart attack and a stroke. His considerable
output included symphonic and chamber works, concertos, song cycles, liturgical
works, as well as music for the organ, which he learned to play at age 40.
Religiously inspired works, such as the oratorios Job and The Trumpets of
Freedom and the organ work The Burning Bush, were among his best known works.
Dr. Berlinski, who fled Nazi Germany in 1933, settled in Washington 30 years
later to become music director at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, a post he
held until 1977. He began his musical career as a pianist, but performed and
recorded on the organ throughout the world well into advanced age. He was
represented by Lilian Murtagh and then Murtagh-McFarlane artist management from
1976-78. Berlinski was a piano graduate of the Leipzig Conservatory of
Music. He moved to Paris in 1933 and composed music for the ballet and the
Yiddish theatre, and studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and Alfred
Cortot. He left Europe in 1941 to live in New York. There he earned the MMus at
Columbia University and a doctorate in composition at the Jewish Theological
Seminary, and served as organist at Temple Emanuel for eight years. His
collection of scores, recordings, correspondence and photographs was given to
the Library of Congress last summer.

Robert Hunter died
on September 10 in Los Angeles at the age of 72. He was accompanist for the
Roger Wagner Chorale and for the Paul Salamunovich choral groups, as well as a
pianist with various groups. Hunter began his career with Wagner in 1946 and
worked with the chorale for a decade. In 1955 he began performing with popular
music groups, including the Freddy Martin Orchestra at the Ambassador Hotel's Coconut Grove, and was Carol Channing's musical director from 1958 to 1971. Hunter later joined Salamunovich to tour with his choruses from Loyola Marymount University and became organist for the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Choir. In 1991 he became accompanist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and remained with the chorale until his retirement in 1996.

Howard B. Kelsey,
professor emeritus from Washington University, died September 18 of heart
failure at the age of 90. Following his wife's death in 1997, Mr. Kelsey
had returned to St. Louis where he lived for the past four years. Born in 1911
and raised in Brighton, Illinois, Howard Kelsey began playing the organ at age
5 and took his first church position at age 14. He graduated from Illinois
Wesleyan University in 1933, and went to New York for graduate study at Union
Theological Seminary under Clarence Dickinson. Upon receiving a Master of
Sacred Music degree, he returned to St. Louis where he taught at Eden Seminary
for six years. In 1937 he married Berenice Strobeck, his wife of sixty years.
Howard Kelsey's association with Washington University began in 1945 when
he became the university organist. He was primarily responsible for the
establishment of the Department of Music in 1947, having secured an endowment
for the department from Avis Blewett. During his time at Washington University,
he brought in internationally known artists to conduct classes and work with
the many organists who came to the University. Students had the opportunity to
work with Anton Heiller, Roslyn Turek, Gillian Weir, Geraint Jones, Suzie
Jeans, Michael Schneider, and the Gregorian chant expert Dom Ermin Virty, OSB.
Many of his students found positions in colleges, universities, and large
churches after completing their degrees under Mr. Kelsey's guidance. In
addition to his work at Washington University, Kelsey also served a number of
St. Louis churches and temples from 1936 to 1973, including First
Congregational Church, Second Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Temple
B'Nai El and Temple Israel. He was also very active in the American Guild
of Organists on the local, regional, and national levels, and served as
consultant for many churches for the purchase and installation of new organs. A
memorial service was held for Howard Kelsey on October 21 at Christ Church
Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri. He is survived by his three children and four
grandchildren.

-Kathleen Bolduan

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Department of Music

Washington University

Roland Münch
died on September 27 in Berlin, Germany. He was born in Leipzig on February 10,
1936, and studied organ with Diethard Hellmann and Robert Köbler. His
first professional position was at St. Wenzel's Church in Naumburg where
he played the historic organ built by Hildebrandt. From 1975 on, he made many
recordings and radio broadcasts. From 1969 until his retirement in March of
this year, Mr. Münch was organist and music director at the Church of Glad
Tidings (Kirche zur frohen Botschaft) in Berlin-Karlshorst where he presided
over the organ built by Peter Migendt in 1756 for Princess Amalia, sister of
Frederick the Great for whom C.P.E. Bach served as court musician from
1738-67. Münch is survived by his wife Ursula and two sons. His most
recent recording, Münch spielt Bach auf Migendt, is on the Ursus label.

Robert Murphy died
on September 22 in Traverse City, Michigan. Born on April 30, 1936, in Benton
Harbor, Michigan, Murphy earned bachelor's and master's degrees
from Western Michigan University. In 1962 he became a member of the Interlochen
Arts Academy Charter Faculty and was chairperson of the keyboard department for
many years prior to his recent retirement. At Western Michigan University, he
had served as director of the chapel choir, graduate assistant and instructor
of music. During his 39 years at Interlochen, he was chairperson of the
building committee for Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall, founder and organizer
of the ICA Chapel Organ Recital Series, and chairperson of the music building
committee for ICA. For nearly four decades he was organist and music director
for Central United Methodist Church in Traverse City. A service celebrating Mr.
Murphy's life took place on October 14 at Central United Methodist Church
in Traverse City. Memorial contributions may be made to the Interlochen Center
for the Arts Organ Scholarship Fund in memory of Robert Henderson Murphy.

Arthur Carkeek, professor emeritus of organ and theory at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, died October 19, 2003 at the age of 80. Born April 7, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan, he was a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral in Detroit. Following high school he attended Wayne State University and the Detroit Institute for Musical Arts simultaneously. While serving in World War II as a chaplain's assistant and waiting to be sent to Europe, Mr. Carkeek assisted in the maintenance of the organ in the Atlantic City Convention Hall, later writing his master's thesis on that unique organ. He also gave weekly radio recitals on the Convention Hall organ. Following his Army discharge, he completed his undergraduate work at DePauw University, graduating in 1948 and receiving his AAGO certificate the same year.

Arthur Carkeek graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1950 and returned to DePauw to teach at the bidding of his former teacher, Van Denman Thompson. Upon Thompson's retirement in 1956, Carkeek became the university organist at DePauw. During his 38-year teaching career at DePauw University, Arthur Carkeek produced many outstanding students, who went on to careers as organists, university professors, clergy, organ builders, competition winners and Fulbright scholars. He was active as a performer, lecturer, panelist and writer. Receiving grants from the Great Lakes Conference and the Ford Foundation as well as sabbatical leaves from DePauw, Carkeek studied organ building with Rudolph von Beckerath and organ with Charles Letestu. He performed many concerts on historic instruments in Germany, including a recital in Altenbruch.

Carkeek produced a number of scholarly articles, most notably a series of articles on his long-time friend Rudolph von Beckerath, published in four installments in The American Organist (1996). A further article on Beckerath will be published posthumously in the Encylopedia of Keyboard Instruments, Vol. 2, The Organ Encylopedia. In 1972 Carkeek made a recording of several organs by Charles Fisk at Harvard, Old West Church (Boston) and DePauw.

In demand as an organ consultant, Arthur Carkeek constantly supported the cause of many fine instruments. He acted in that capacity at Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis where a Hellmuth Wolff organ was installed in the chancel and a Taylor & Boody organ was installed in the rear gallery.

Arthur Carkeek served as the director of music at Gobin United Methodist Church and St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, both in Greencastle, Indiana. In 1998 a fire at St. Andrew's destroyed the existing pipe organ that Carkeek had nurtured over the years. That instrument was replaced in September, 2002 with Op. 1 built by Joseph Zamberlan and was dedicated in honor of Arthur Carkeek.

In 2001, Arthur Carkeek was given a lifetime honorary membership in the American Guild of Organists by the Indianapolis Chapter. He was also a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and the Association of Anglican Musicians.

A Solemn Evensong and Eucharist was celebrated on October 24, 2003 at St. Andrew's. Participants included former students, DePauw faculty, and members of the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis. The Arthur Carkeek Memorial Concert Fund has been established at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Greencastle, Indiana. He is survived by his wife Maureen  (McCormick) Carkeek, a daughter, a son, and two grandchildren.

--Richard Konzen

Halbert Scranton Gillette, chairman of the board and CEO of Scranton Gillette Communications, which publishes The Diapason, died on November 22, 2003, at his home in Lake Forest, Illinois, after a long battle with cancer. He was 81.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, June 29, 1922, the son of Edward Scranton Gillette and Claribel Reed Thornton, and raised in Chicago and Winnetka, Illinois, Mr. Gillette attended The Chicago Latin School and graduated from the Philips Exeter Academy. In 1944 he graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering and business. He was commissioned U.S. Navy 1944-1946, and served in the U.S. mainland during World War II and in the Naval Reserves. He was chairman of the board and CEO of Scranton Gillette Communications, Inc., which was founded in 1906 by his grandfather. Mr. Gillette started as a salesman for Gillette Publishing in 1947. In 1960, two-thirds of Gillette Publishing Co. was sold to Reuben H. Donnelley, which then was merging with Dun & Bradstreet. Mr. Gillette also moved to Donnelley/Dun & Bradstreet as a publisher and a vice president. In 1970, he rejoined his father's firm, then Scranton Publishing Company, and shortly become president of the firm, which was renamed Scranton Gillette Communications.

Mr. Gillette served as past president of the Chicago Business Papers Association, as well as on the board of several insurance companies. He was the former Chairman of the Board of Occidental Life Insurance. He served as alderman in Lake Forest, Illinois, 1979-1986, and served on the Public Safety and Waterfront committees. He was co-chairman of the committee that oversaw the creation of the city's current beachfront.

He was a member of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, and Church of the Holy Innocents, in Lahaina, Hawaii. He was also a member of the Onwentsia Club of Lake Forest; the Les Cheneaux Club, Cedarville, Michigan; and the Lahaina Yacht Club, Hawaii. Husband of Karla Ann Spiel Gillette; father of Anne, Susan, James, Halbert and Edward; grandfather of Alexander, Madeline, Carolyn, Julia, and Isabelle.

Thyra Nichols Plass died on October 27, 2003, in Bryan, Texas, at the age of 89. She was born in Green Valley, Illinois, on April 8, 1914, and lived in Bryan since 1968. Mrs. Plass earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Chicago, and her doctor of sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. A retired organist and choirmaster, she was a member of the Brazos Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Bryan, Texas. In addition she was a member of The Women's Club, a founding member of the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, co-founder of the annual children's symphony concerts, and a member of OPAS Guild. She is survived by her husband Gilbert Norman Plass, a daughter, and six grandchildren.

Kenneth Kajkowski, age 43, of Helena, Montana, died April 19 following an automobile accident southeast of White Sulfur Springs, Montana. Born in New York City, he studied organ with Dr. George Powers and attended Manhattan School of Music and Queensborough School of Music. He learned organbuilding as an apprentice with Louis Mohr in New York City, and later formed his own company, Kenn Pro Co., in Maspeth, New York. He moved west in 1976 to work with the Hendrickson Organ Company in St. Peter, Minnesota. In 1978 he opened his own shop in Great Falls, Montana, moved it to Deer Lodge in 1983 and then to Helena in 1992. A recent project was the rebuild of a 1912 Bennet organ for the First Presbyterian Church of Lewistown, Montana. He was a member of the OHS and the AIO. He is survived by an 8-year-old son, his father, and his aunt. Funeral services were held at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Helena.

Charles Myers, of Clitheroe, England, died on February 27. Born in London in 1923, he grew up during the inter-war years in Worcester, where he was educated at Worcester Cathedral Choir School and at Worcester Cathedral King's School. He was a treble in the Choir of Worcester Cathedral under Sir Ivor Atkins, and later studied with Herbert Sumsion. Mr. Myers followed courses at Trinity College of Music and at the Guildhall School of Music, where he won the Sir Augustus Manns Memorial Prize for Organ Playing. He was also awarded diplomas from the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal College of Organists. In 1944 he was appointed Organist of St. George's Church, Barbourne, Worcester, and in 1948 became Assistant Music Master at Monkton Combe School near Bath. While at the school he met Rowena Jenner, a qualified nurse, who had become the School Matron. They were married in 1950. That same year they moved to Clitheroe, where Charles was appointed Organist and Choirmaster of the Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene. He also held teaching appointments at both Clitheroe Royal Grammar Schools for Girls and for Boys for well over 20 years. During his time at Clitheroe, he founded and organized the Clitheroe Parish Church Organ Society, which hosts concerts by both "up-and-coming" and internationally renowned artists. For many years he was editor of Musical Opinion and continued writing reviews until this death. Myers had a special interest in organ construction and had been consultant to a number of churches for improvements to their instruments. In 1975, he accepted an invitation from the Lord Bishop of Blackburn to become the Organ Adviser for the Diocese.

R. Franklin Mitchell died March 31 in Lawrence, Kansas. Born on March 30, 1917, in Murphysboro, Illinois, he joined the Reuter Organ Company in 1951 as special representative and consultant, and in 1957 was appointed Tonal Director. He was elected Vice President of the company in 1965. In 1980 he assumed the position of President and Partner, a position he held until 1983 when he became Chairman of the Board, continuing in that position until his retirement in 1995. Mr. Mitchell and the Reuter Organ Company both celebrated their 81st birthdays this year, Mitchell on March 30 and Reuter on March 3. During his 44 years of service, he was involved with the design and tonal finishing of over 1,000 pipe organs. Mitchell received the BA in music from Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri, in 1938, and the MMus in organ from the University of Michigan in 1943. In 1945-50 he did graduate study at Union Theological Seminary. In 1969 and 1972 he toured Europe to study European pipe organ design and construction. He held the position of organist of the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor 1941-44, at the Presbyterian Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina 1946-47, and when he began work at Reuter in 1951 he was named organist and director of music of the First United Methodist Church in Lawrence, a position he held until 1961. Mitchell was also a teacher and professor of music. After his graduation he became Instructor of Music at Missouri Valley College 1939-41.  He served in the Air Force during World War II and was a chaplain's assistant. After the war and his service in Spartanburg, he was professor of organ at Linfield College, MacMinnville, Oregon 1947-49, and was instructor in music at Northwest Missouri State College when he accepted the position with Reuter. He served as Visiting Lecturer in Organ for 10 years, 1968-78, at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. In 1994 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Missouri Valley College. He is survived by his wife Adeline, a son, two daughters, and two grandsons.

Joy Anne Moore Marsh died peacefully at her home in Plano, Texas, on July 9. She was 69. Born in Dallas on July 19, 1935, she graduated from North Dallas High School in 1953. She earned her bachelor of music degree in organ from Southern Methodist University in 1957, studying with Dora Poteet Barclay, and then completed her master’s degree in music literature in 1961 at the University of Texas, Austin. Her thesis was “Form and Style in the Organ Works of Olivier Messiaen.” Mrs. Marsh taught music in the public schools of Midland and Dallas. A 40-year resident of Plano, Texas, she also taught private piano. She is survived by one sister, Mary E. Moore Skalicky, concert organist of Big Spring, Texas, three daughters and three grandchildren, and was preceded in death by her husband Noble Earl Marsh.

Jack H. Ossewaarde died December 30, 2004 at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. He was 86. Born November 15, 1918 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Ossewaarde began his music training at age seven, and sang with the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Boys’ Choir in Kalamazoo. He became organist and director of music at North Park Reformed Church, Kalamazoo, at age 14, and also served as organist at Bethany Reformed Church while still a teenager.

After graduating from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1936, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan. He was organist and music director at First Baptist Church, Ann Arbor, and an instructor at U-M before being inducted into the U.S. Army shortly before the United States entered World War II. After serving in the Army, Ossewaarde studied at Union Theological Seminary. In 1946 he was appointed organist and choirmaster of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The following year he was appointed organist at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City, where he served for six years. He then served Christ Church Cathedral in Houston for five years, before being appointed to St. Bartholomew’s Church, New York City, where he served for 25 years until his retirement. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Donna Ossewaarde, a daughter, a son, four grandchildren, one great-grandchild, a brother and sister-in-law, and a sister and brother-in-law.

Calvert Shenk died from cancer on July 9 at his home in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He was 64. Most recently Mr. Shenk served as assistant professor of music at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He also worked at Assumption Grotto Church in Detroit, where he assisted as organist, chant master and composer.

Born November 21, 1940 in Joplin, Missouri, Shenk earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ performance from Northwestern University, and continued studies with Theodore Marier (Gregorian chant), Gerre Hancock (improvisation) and David Willcocks (choral conducting). He held music positions at St. Henry Parish, Chicago, Illinois; Armed Forces School of Music, Norfolk, Virginia; St. Philip Parish, Battle Creek, Michigan; St. Catherine Parish, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Cathedral of St. Paul, Birmingham, Alabama. In addition, he worked as adjunct instructor at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, as music critic for the Battle Creek Enquirer and News, as choral director at St. Philip Catholic Central High School, and as associate director, accompanist and composer-in-residence for the Battle Creek Boys Choir.

He played recitals thoughout the midwest, east and southeast, and performed at the 1986 AGO national convention in Detroit. Internationally, he presented an organ recital at Eglise Notre-Dame in Douai, France, and led the St. Catherine Church Choir on a tour of Italy in March 1987. Mr. Shenk was a Fellow of the AGO and served as dean of the Southwest Michigan chapter, as well as educational concerns chairman of the Birmingham, Alabama chapter. He was a member of the Hymn Society, the Church Music Association of America and the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians.

A prolific composer, his works are published by MacAfee Music, GIA Publications and CanticaNOVA Publications, and he was co-author of the Adoremus Hymnal (Ignatius Press). A funeral mass was held on July 13 at Assumption Grotto Church, Detroit. Mr. Shenk is survived by his wife of 37 years, Ila Marie Connors Shenk.

Donald Basil Austin (1933-2004) died September 17 of complications from emphysema. He was 71. Mr. Austin was long affiliated with Austin Organs, Inc., the firm originally founded as Austin Organ Company by his great uncles, John T. Austin and Basil G. Austin. Donald Austin's father, Frederic Basil Austin, became president of the firm in 1937 upon its reorganization as Austin Organs, Inc.

As a boy, Donald Austin grew up surrounded by pipe organs, in a factory created by his family and filled with the mechanical wizardry of his forebears. On his days off, he often accompanied his father to the shop, and in 1950 he began working there in his spare time. After service in the Korean War, Mr. Austin began full-time employment, simultaneously pursuing an undergraduate degree in business administration at the University of Connecticut.

Mr. Austin was one of the few members of the factory staff to apprentice in the traditional sense: apart from the pipe shop, he worked in every department, even alongside the ladies in the third-floor action department (affectionately referred to as the 'hen house'). Family connections spelled no favoritism; Donald was begun at minimum wage of sixty-five cents an hour. In keeping with a long-standing family tradition, Mr. Austin did not study voicing, but chose to assist in the management of the company and maintain the firm guidance and conservative spirit that had characterized the Austin Company from the outset.

In the work environment, Mr. Austin was a reserved man who avoided publicity and preferred one-on-one contact. With friends and staff, however, his conservative exterior became a platform for 80-grit humor. Once started, "Don" or "DBA" (as most of the staff called him) could be immensely lively and affable. With a cigarette between his third and fourth fingers, he would stride straight past the No Smoking sign and into the factory for his rounds. A born prankster, Mr. Austin gloried in the fax machine the way other cultures embraced antibiotics; whimsy, wit and droll assessments of other builders' work would routinely unfurl into incoming trays across the land. Mr. Austin's humor was matched by penmanship of near illegibility, but there was something in his curly scrawl that conjured up the hearty chuckle of the man himself.

Over the years, projects brought him into contact with many luminaries. He was particularly fond of Dr. Robert Baker, who acted as consultant on numerous prominent Austin installations from the mid-1950s to 1990. He also worked with Clarence Watters, Fred Swann, Lawrence Phelps, Nelson Barden, Douglass Hunt and Carlo Curley, among others. He relished some of the firm's more unusual projects: the 1990 restoration of the 1930 Austin in Hartford's Bushnell Memorial Hall, a personal favorite of his great uncle Basil G. Austin; the console rebuild of the famous Girard College Aeolian-Skinner, the core organ provided for a concert hall in Shiroishi, Japan.

When F.B. Austin retired in 1973, Donald Austin assumed the office of President, and in 1990 he became Chairman of the Board. In 1994, after forty-four years with the firm, he announced his semi-retirement, leaving daily management to his daughter, Kimberlee, who had trained in the factory much as her father had. Mr. Austin remained active in policy decisions and general guidance. He retired as President in 1999, continuing as a member of the Board and consultant. He was a past President of the American Pipe Organ Builders Association, and held membership in the International Society of Organ Builders and the American Institute of Organ Builders.

Outside the factory, Mr. Austin was heavily involved in the Bloomfield Center Fire Department and Fire District, joining in 1951 and ascending through the ranks from Private and Captain to Treasurer and ultimately Commissioner. He served on the Board of Directors of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce and was President of the Traffic Club Division, as well as being a 32nd Degree Mason and a member of Hiram Lodge 98, AF & AM. He served as Senior Warden of Old St. Andrew's Church in Bloomfield, and proudly donated a Trumpet stop to the Austin Chorophone there. As an active member of the Central New England Railroad group, he made many friends, several of whom lent friendship and support in his later years.

In addition to his wife of fifty years, Marilyn (Heeber) Austin of Bloomfield, survivors include two daughters, Sheryl Morales, of Fanwood, NJ, and Kimberlee Austin of Windsor Locks, CT; three grandchildren, George Austin, and Stacey and Rachel Morales; and several in-laws, nieces and nephews. Funeral services were held Tuesday, September 21 at Old St. Andrew's Church in Bloomfield, with burial in the Old St. Andrew's Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Our Companions Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 673, Bloomfield, CT 06002, or the Old St. Andrew's Endowment for Organ Maintenance, 59 Tariffville Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002.

--Jonathan Ambrosino

Janet Hall died on April 30 in Pueblo, Colorado. Born on October 25, 1923, she had served as a church musician for almost 50 years. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a master's from Union Theological Seminary, where she studied with Vernon de Tar. After serving as organist and director of Christian education at St. Thaddeus Church, Aiken, South Carolina, from 1946-49, she moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, to take up the post of assistant organist and director of Christian education at Bruton Parish Church. From 1957 to 1988 she served as organist and choirmaster at Ascension Episcopal Church, Pueblo, Colorado, and was the founder of the St. George Men and Boys' Choir and the St. Cecilia Choir. From 1963 to 1972 she was assistant professor of music at the University of Southern Colorado. The niece of English composer Herbert Sumsion, Miss Hall was a prolific composer of choir anthems and recorder and handbell music. Her plainsong setting of the Kyrie eleison is published in The Hymnal 1982.

Kent McDonald died on May 18 in Phoenix, Arizona. Born on July 25, 1925, in Phoenix, he served in the U.S. Army in World War II, studied piano privately in New York City, and then earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music. In 1950 he was appointed organist and choir director at St. James Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Michigan, where he served for over 40 years. During that time he taught piano and organ privately and was an adjunct instructor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He twice served as Dean of the Detroit AGO chapter and also as Michigan State Chairman. He was program chairman for the AGO national convention in Detroit in 1958 and directed choirs at two Episcopal Church triennial conventions. After his retirement in 1991, he and his wife spent half of each year in Arizona and half in Oscoda, Michigan. During summers in Michigan, he served as organist at Christ Church, East Tawas.

Donald Basil Austin
(1933–2004) died September 17 of complications from emphysema. He was 71.
Mr. Austin was long affiliated with Austin Organs, Inc., the firm originally
founded as Austin Organ Company by his great uncles, John T. Austin and Basil
G. Austin. Donald Austin’s father, Frederic Basil Austin, became
president of the firm in 1937 upon its reorganization as Austin Organs, Inc.

As a boy, Donald Austin grew up surrounded by pipe organs,
in a factory created by his family and filled with the mechanical wizardry of
his forebears. On his days off, he often accompanied his father to the shop,
and in 1950 he began working there in his spare time. After service in the
Korean War, Mr. Austin began full-time employment, simultaneously pursuing an
undergraduate degree in business administration at the University of
Connecticut.

Mr. Austin was one of the few members of the factory staff
to apprentice in the traditional sense: apart from the pipe shop, he worked in
every department, even alongside the ladies in the third-floor action
department (affectionately referred to as the ‘hen house’). Family
connections spelled no favoritism; Donald was begun at minimum wage of
sixty-five cents an hour. In keeping with a long-standing family tradition, Mr.
Austin did not study voicing, but chose to assist in the management of the
company and maintain the firm guidance and conservative spirit that had characterized
the Austin Company from the outset.

In the work environment, Mr. Austin was a reserved man who
avoided publicity and preferred one-on-one contact. With friends and staff,
however, his conservative exterior became a platform for 80-grit humor. Once
started, “Don” or “DBA” (as most of the staff called
him) could be immensely lively and affable. With a cigarette between his third
and fourth fingers, he would stride straight past the No Smoking sign and into
the factory for his rounds. A born prankster, Mr. Austin gloried in the fax
machine the way other cultures embraced antibiotics; whimsy, wit and droll
assessments of other builders’ work would routinely unfurl into incoming
trays across the land. Mr. Austin’s humor was matched by penmanship of near
illegibility, but there was something in his curly scrawl that conjured up the
hearty chuckle of the man himself.

Over the years, projects brought him into contact with many
luminaries. He was particularly fond of Dr. Robert Baker, who acted as consultant
on numerous prominent Austin installations from the mid-1950s to 1990. He also
worked with Clarence Watters, Fred Swann, Lawrence Phelps, Nelson Barden,
Douglass Hunt and Carlo Curley, among others. He relished some of the
firm’s more unusual projects: the 1990 restoration of the 1930 Austin in
Hartford’s Bushnell Memorial Hall, a personal favorite of his great uncle
Basil G. Austin; the console rebuild of the famous Girard College
Aeolian-Skinner, the core organ provided for a concert hall in Shiroishi,
Japan.

When F.B. Austin retired in 1973, Donald Austin assumed the
office of President, and in 1990 he became Chairman of the Board. In 1994,
after forty-four years with the firm, he announced his semi-retirement, leaving
daily management to his daughter, Kimberlee, who had trained in the factory
much as her father had. Mr. Austin remained active in policy decisions and
general guidance. He retired as President in 1999, continuing as a member of
the Board and consultant. He was a past President of the American Pipe Organ
Builders Association, and held membership in the International Society of Organ
Builders and the American Institute of Organ Builders.

Outside the factory, Mr. Austin was heavily involved in the
Bloomfield Center Fire Department and Fire District, joining in 1951 and
ascending through the ranks from Private and Captain to Treasurer and
ultimately Commissioner. He served on the Board of Directors of the Hartford
Chamber of Commerce and was President of the Traffic Club Division, as well as being
a 32nd Degree Mason and a member of Hiram Lodge 98, AF & AM. He served as
Senior Warden of Old St. Andrew’s Church in Bloomfield, and proudly
donated a Trumpet stop to the Austin Chorophone there. As an active member of
the Central New England Railroad group, he made many friends, several of whom
lent friendship and support in his later years.

In addition to his wife of fifty years, Marilyn (Heeber)
Austin of Bloomfield, survivors include two daughters, Sheryl Morales, of
Fanwood, NJ, and Kimberlee Austin of Windsor Locks, CT; three grandchildren,
George Austin, and Stacey and Rachel Morales; and several in-laws, nieces and
nephews. Funeral services were held Tuesday, September 21 at Old Saint
Andrew’s Church in Bloomfield, with burial in the Old Saint Andrew’s
Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Our Companions Animal
Shelter, P.O. Box 673, Bloomfield, CT 06002, or the Old Saint Andrew’s
Endowment for Organ Maintenance, 59 Tariffville Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002.

--Jonathan Ambrosino

Janet Hall died on
April 30 in Pueblo, Colorado. Born on October 25, 1923, she had served as a
church musician for almost 50 years. She received a bachelor’s degree
from Smith College and a master’s from Union Theological Seminary, where
she studied with Vernon de Tar. After serving as organist and director of
Christian education at St. Thaddeus Church, Aiken, South Carolina, from
1946–49, she moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, to take up the post of
assistant organist and director of Christian education at Bruton Parish Church.
From 1957 to 1988 she served as organist and choirmaster at Ascension Episcopal
Church, Pueblo, Colorado, and was the founder of the St. George Men and
Boys’ Choir and the St. Cecilia Choir. From 1963 to 1972 she was
assistant professor of music at the University of Southern Colorado. The niece
of English composer Herbert Sumsion, Miss Hall was a prolific composer of choir
anthems and recorder and handbell music. Her plainsong setting of the Kyrie
eleison is published in The Hymnal 1982.

Kent McDonald died
on May 18 in Phoenix, Arizona. Born on July 25, 1925, in Phoenix, he served in
the U.S. Army in World War II, studied piano privately in New York City, and
then earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School
of Music. In 1950 he was appointed organist and choir director at St. James
Episcopal Church, Birmingham, Michigan, where he served for over 40 years.
During that time he taught piano and organ privately and was an adjunct
instructor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He twice served as
Dean of the Detroit AGO chapter and also as Michigan State Chairman. He was
program chairman for the AGO national convention in Detroit in 1958 and
directed choirs at two Episcopal Church triennial conventions. After his retirement
in 1991, he and his wife spent half of each year in Arizona and half in Oscoda,
Michigan. During summers in Michigan, he served as organist at Christ Church,
East Tawas.