Nunc Dimittis

Donald Trowbridge Bryant, age 95, died on April 11. Born in Chesterville, Ohio, he began piano study at age 8, and received bachelor’s degrees in music education and composition at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. After four years of service in the Army during World War II, he entered the Juilliard School of Music in 1946; he earned a master’s degree in piano, studied singing with Mack Harrell, and served as Harrell’s studio accompanist.

During the next 20 years, Donald Bryant served as director/pianist of the Columbus Boychoir, now known as the American Boychoir. The choir toured Japan, Italy, and South America, recorded ten albums for RCA and Columbia, and appeared many times on NBC-TV. The Columbus Boychoir was involved in such performances in New York as the official opening of Lincoln Center, the American premieres of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”) and Britten’s War Requiem, and numerous concerts under Arturo Toscanini.  

In 1969, Bryant moved to Michigan to become the music director of the University Musical Society (UMS) Choral Union and director of music at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor. At the church, he established the annual Boar’s Head Festival and Festival Sundays, which featured larger choral works.

Bryant’s compositions included anthems and responses, and an opera, The Tower of Babel. Commissions included settings for the poems of Hungarian poet Sandor Weores and Polish-American Nobel Laureate Ciesław Miłosz; a choral work, Death’s Echo, set to poetry of W. H. Auden for performance at the 1984 Ann Arbor Summer Festival; and a Missa Brevis, premiered at First Presbyterian in 1988. In honor of his retirement as director of the Choral Union, the UMS commissioned the three-act oratorio Genesis, given its world premiere in a special tribute concert to Bryant on January 14, 1990. In 1992, the U of M’s Museum of Art commissioned him to compose a choral work on the biblical Esther, which was premiered in conjunction with an exhibit featuring the museum’s painting by Guercino of Esther before Ahasuerus. 

After his retirement from First Presbyterian Church, Bryant continued to compose: A Requiem for Our Mothers (premiered at the Chapel of the Holy Trinity at Concordia University in Ann Arbor on June 5, 1999); a set of piano miniatures, Pictures from Childhood; and several songs based on texts by his ancestor, William Cullen Bryant. He also continued to conduct a small choir that performed several times a year, and to practice piano every day, performing a recital as recently as February 27, 2014, for his friends and new acquaintances at Chelsea Retirement Community. 

Bryant was awarded an honorary doctorate by Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey; an Annie Award by the Washtenaw Council of the Arts in Ann Arbor; and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor. 

Donald Trowbridge Bryant was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Lela Neoma Cultice Bryant. He is survived by his sister, Doris (Theodore) Bruckner; his son, Milton Travis Bryant of New York City; son and daughter-in-law, Stephen Lee Bryant and Caryl Heaton Bryant of Montclair, New Jersey; grandsons David and Andrew Bryant; and friends and former students.

James K. Hill, age 72, died on April 16 in Bay City, Michigan. He received a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in organ performance from Central Michigan University, and a master’s degree in education from Michigan State University. He was a music and elementary teacher in the Essexville-Hampton Public Schools, and a member of the Saginaw Valley AGO chapter. Hill played organ at several regional churches, sang with the Bay Chorale, and played with the Saginaw Valley State University Collegium. 

James K. Hill is survived by his wife Rosemary, a son, a daughter, a granddaughter, a brother, a sister, a niece, and a nephew. 

Frances Kelly Holland died in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 3; she was 92. Born in Mount Holly, North Carolina, she received a bachelor of music degree from Greensboro College in 1938. She served as organist and choir director at the First United Methodist Church, and the First Presbyterian Church, both in Mount Holly, for many years, until her retirement in 1984. Holland was an officer of the Charlotte AGO chapter for 22 years, and was certified as an organist by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. Frances Kelly Holland is survived by her husband of 69 years, Thomas Marshall Holland, two children, five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. 

Ronald A. Nelson died April 18 at the age of 86. Born in Rockford, Illinois, he received a B.Mus. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and an M.Mus. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1955 he became music minister at Westwood Lutheran Church in suburban Minneapolis, serving for 37 years; he directed nine choirs and a resident orchestra and founded a children’s choir school. His compositions were published by Augsburg Fortress, GIA, Santa Barbara, and Selah; he is well known as the composer of Setting 2 of the Communion Service in the Lutheran Book of Worship. Nelson received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from St. Olaf College and the F. Melius Christiansen Award from Minnesota American Choral Directors Association.

Ronald A. Nelson is survived by his wife, Betty Lou, daughter Rachel, sons Peter and Paul, and
a grandson.

Robert J. Schaffer died on May 20 at the age of 92 in Edgewood, Kentucky. Born in 1921 in St. Bernard, Ohio, he received his early education in Cincinnati. During World War II, he served in England in a U.S. Army band, which played the national anthem for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during the embarkation ceremony for troops heading to fight on Normandy’s beaches. After the war, he returned to Cincinnati, serving as an organist, freelance trombonist, and pianist, while studying Gregorian chant at the Athenaeum of Ohio and earning a bachelor’s degree in music from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He moved to New York and earned a master’s degree in musicology from New York University. 

In 1949 Schaffer was hired as organist by the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky, beginning an association that would endure for more than sixty years. After a short break to conclude his doctoral studies, he returned in 1952, and was named director of music in 1958. In 1953, Schaffer married his wife of 55 years, Rita, former organist at Cincinnati’s Christ Church Cathedral and Church of the Redeemer. She died in 2009. Schaffer composed several Masses and other compositions, which were published by World Library Publications. He taught music in the parish elementary school, in high schools, at Villa Madonna College (later Thomas More College) in Covington, and at St. Pius X Seminary, and served as an organist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In 1975, to celebrate the addition of the Matthias Schwab Organ to what were eventually the three organs of the basilica (the pipes and other parts were dismantled and carried two blocks from Old St. Joseph Church, which had formerly housed the instrument), Schaffer began the Cathedral Concert Series. Robert J. Schaffer is survived by his son Gregory Schaffer, daughter Rebecca Wells, and four grandchildren. 

Organist and musicologist Walker Evans Cunningham died unexpectedly at his home in San Francisco on May 14. He was 65. Cunningham grew up in Blackstone, Virginia, where his mother encouraged him to pursue his love of music. He won a scholarship to Oberlin, where in 1970 he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from the Conservatory and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and German from the College. 

Cunningham then taught at Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, where he was awarded an Andrew Mellon Foundation faculty grant to study with Marie-Claire Alain at the Haarlem Summer Organ Academy, and to do research in France. He spent 1973–74 as a research and performance fellow at the Institut de Musicologie, University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where he studied organ with Luigi Tagliavini. He earned both an M.A. and Ph.D. in musicology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was awarded multiple fellowships. 

Walker Cunningham performed many organ concerts in the United States, including a keynote concert for the Columbia Bach Symposium in New York City, and in Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Austria. He took second prize at the Hofhaimer Competition in Innsbruck, Austria. Also a harpsichordist, he was a continuo player and accompanist with chamber, choral, and symphonic organizations such as the Berkeley Pro Musica Chorus, California Bach Society, and San Francisco Symphony. He served as organist and music director for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley, organist and choirmaster for St. John the Evangelist Episcopal in San Francisco, and at other churches in the U.S. and Europe. He authored The Keyboard Music of John Bull (UMI Research Press, 1984). In 1992, he co-edited with Charles McDermott Canzoni d’intavolatura d’organo, a collection of Claudio Merulo organ intabulations. He recorded and produced the CD The Historic San Francisco Organ of the Church of St. John the Evangelist (Arkay Records, 1993), and was a reviewer for The Diapason.

Thanks to his own research and the help of his doctors, he survived two bouts with AIDS and 29 years of HIV. When AIDS brought an end to his performing career, Cunningham became a technical editor and writer at Cisco Systems, and later a consultant. Walker Evans Cunningham is survived by his sister Joy Cunningham of Austin, Texas.

Contributions in Walker Cunningham’s memory may be made to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music Scholarship Fund, either online at https://new.oberlin.edu/office/development/donate or by check to Oberlin College, Department of Development, Room 005, 50 West Lorain Street, Oberlin, OH 44074. 

Carol Newton Hawk died March 5 at age 64. Born into a family of teachers and musicians, she began piano study at age five, and organ study, with her older brother, the late Robert Newton, at age 12. She later studied with Roger Nyquist. After attending DeAnza College in Cupertino, California, she married John Hawk and they moved to the Sacramento area. She served as organist at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church in Fair Oaks, California for 29 years, and as an accompanist for music programs of local elementary schools. Carol Hawk served the Sacramento AGO chapter in many capacities, including as dean for six years, and was a member of Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Fraternity and the Sacramento Choral Society. Carol Newton Hawk is survived by her husband, two daughters, four grandchildren, her mother, and a brother.

Douglas L. Rafter, Portland’s longest-lived municipal organist, died July 3 in Portland, Maine. He was 97. A native of Wilmington, Vermont, Rafter moved to Portland in 1971. A concert organist, he had a repertoire of about 275 pieces of organ music memorized. He also taught music at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, at the University of Southern Maine, and privately. Rafter served as organist and choir director at Immanuel Baptist Church for 13 years, and then worked at other Portland-area churches until his retirement in 2005.

Over the years, he gave 1,700 concerts throughout the United States, playing his first concert in Portland in 1936, right after earning his associate’s certification from the American Guild of Organists. In March 2010, he was honored by the AGO for 75 years of consecutive membership, all but the last five of which had been in uninterrupted service as a church organist and concert performer.

Douglas Rafter was Portland’s municipal organist from 1976 until 1981, playing both classical and popular works. He played summer series concerts for 68 years, and was also noted for  his Christmas preludes before the annual Magic of Christmas concert.

Musician and organbuilder John A. Schantz, 93 years old, passed away at his home in Orrville, Ohio, on July 4. Born on June 14, 1920, he was the youngest child of Victor and Bess Schantz. His studies in piano and organ at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music were interrupted by service in the U. S. Army during World War II. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree in 1947, he joined the staff of Schantz Organ Company. With his brother Bruce and cousin Paul, John Schantz was part of the third generation of the family business. During his tenure, the Schantz Organ Company rose in prominence from a regional concern to an organbuilding firm of national (and later international) standing. He served as tonal director of the firm for many years, and as corporate secretary/treasurer, and chairman of the board of directors. 

Beyond work with the organ company, he was a lifelong, active member of Christ United Church of Christ in Orrville, an officer with the Orrville Chamber of Commerce, Orrville United Way, and the Orrville Public Library Board. He was a long-time member and officer of the MacDowell Club of Wooster, Ohio. John A. Schantz is survived by his spouse of 60 years, Marilyn, a son Timothy, daughters Molly, Melanie, and Suzanne, and ten grandchildren.

Richard Hillert died February 18. He was Distinguished Professor of Music Emeritus at Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Illinois, and was best known for his work as a composer and composition teacher. One of his most noted works is Worthy Is Christ, of which “This is the Feast of Victory” has been widely published in various worship books.
Hillert received his bachelor’s degree in education from Concordia, and master’s and doctoral degrees in composition from Northwestern University. He also studied composition with Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi. Hillert taught at Concordia from 1959 to 2003. He edited eleven volumes of the Concordia Hymn Prelude Series and was associate editor of the journal Church Music (1966–80).
Hillert’s compositions and publications include liturgical music for congregation, choral motets, hymns and hymn anthems, psalm settings and organ works, concertatos, and cantatas, including settings of The Christmas Story According to Saint Luke and The Passion According to Saint John. Richard Hillert is survived by his wife Gloria Bonnin Hillert, and children Kathryn Brewer, Virginia Hillert, and Jonathan Hillert.

Rev. Richard D. Howell died January 26 in Dallas, Texas. Born June 24, 1932 in Great Bend, Kansas, he earned a master of sacred music degree from Southern Methodist University, and was ordained a deacon in the United Methodist Church. He started playing for church services at age 13, and went on to serve numerous United Methodist congregations in Texas and taught elementary music for the Richardson and Dallas school districts. He played for children’s, youth, and adult choirs and directed handbell choirs, serving as the chairman of the Dallas Handbell Festival. He was active in many organizations, including the American Guild of Organists, Choristers Guild, and the Fellowship of United Methodist Musicians. Richard D. Howell is survived by his wife of 52 years, Bradley Sue Howell, children Mark and Teri Howell, Celeste and Martin Hlavenka, and Jane Walker, along with grandchildren, sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Richard Proulx died February 18 at age 72. From 1980 to 1994, he was organist–music director at the Cathedral of the Holy Name in Chicago, where he was also responsible for the planning and installation of two new mechanical-action organs for the cathedral: Casavant II/19 (Quebec, 1981) and Flentrop IV/71 (Holland, 1989). Before coming to Chicago, he served at St. Thomas Church, Medina/Seattle (1970–1980), and was organist at Temple de Hirsch Sinai. Previous positions included St. Charles Parish, Tacoma; St. Stephen’s Church, Seattle; and 15 years (1953–1968) at the Church of the Holy Childhood in St. Paul.
A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, he attended MacPhail College and the University of Minnesota, with further studies undertaken at the American Boychoir School at Princeton, St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, and the Royal School of Church Music in England. He studied organ with Ruth Dindorf, Arthur Jennings, Rupert Sircom, Gerald Bales, and Peter Hallock; choral conducting with Bruce Larsen, Donald Brost, and Peter Hallock; composition with Leopold Bruenner, Theodore Ganshaw, Bruce Larsen, and Gerald Bales.
Proulx was a widely published composer of more than 300 works, including congregational music, sacred and secular choral works, song cycles, two operas, and instrumental and organ music. He served as consultant for The Hymnal 1982, the New Yale Hymnal, the Methodist Hymnal, Worship II and III, and contributed to the Mennonite Hymnal and the Presbyterian Hymnal.

Phyllis J. Stringham, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, died February 12 at the age of 79. Born January 30, 1931 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin College and a Master of Music degree in organ performance at the University of Michigan. Her organ teachers included John Hamersma, Robert Noehren, and Marilyn Mason. She pursued additional study at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, studying with Nadia Boulanger and André Marchal. In 1966 she studied with Marie-Claire Alain and Anton Heiller at the Summer Academy for Organists in Haarlem, Holland. While on sabbatical leave in 1972, she spent five months studying at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. Further study was done at the Eastman School of Music with Russell Saunders, and with Delbert Disselhorst at the University of Iowa.
For 43 years, Stringham was Professor of Music and College Organist at Carroll University, Waukesha, Wisconsin (1959–2002). After retirement from teaching, she retained her position as College Organist and Curator of the Organ. In 2007 she was named Organist Emeritus. Her earlier teaching career began at Chatham Hall, an Episcopal school in Virginia. She is listed in Who’s Who in the World of Music. From the late 1960s to 2007 she operated the Phyllis Stringham Concert Management agency. She served the AGO as dean of the Milwaukee chapter and as Wisconsin State Chair.
Phyllis Stringham is survived by her brother James A. (Gladys), nephews, many grandnephews, nieces, other relatives and friends. A memorial service was held February 18 at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Waukesha.

Gail Walton, director of music at the University of Notre Dame’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart, died February 24 in Indianapolis after a long illness. She was 55 years old. Dr. Walton had served as director of music in the Basilica since 1988, directing the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir as well as the Basilica Schola, which she founded in 1989. She held degrees from Westminster Choir College and the Eastman School of Music, where she earned the doctor of musical arts degree in organ performance, and was awarded the performer’s certificate. Before joining the basilica staff, she taught organ at Goshen College.
Gail Walton performed throughout the midwestern United States and played concerts in the German cities of Bonn, Heidenheim, Mainz, and Rottenburg/Neckar in the summer of 1991. In the summer of 1995, she took the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir on a tour of Italy, giving performances in Florence, Milan, Assisi, and Rome. She frequently played duo recitals with her husband, organist and Notre Dame music professor Craig Cramer.

Allan Wicks, a leading cathedral organist of his generation, died February 4 at age 86. He played a crucial role during the 1950s and 60s in bringing modern works by Messiaen, Maxwell Davies, Stravinsky, and Britten into the regular cathedral repertory. Born in Harden, Yorkshire, on June 6, 1923, the son of a clergyman, Wicks became organ scholar at Christ Church, Oxford in 1942, where he studied under Thomas Armstrong. He became sub-organist at York Minster in 1947, then in 1954 organist and master of the choristers of Manchester Cathedral. During his time there, he oversaw the rebuilding of the war-damaged organ, and championed the music of Peter Maxwell Davies and Malcolm Williamson. He also regularly conducted Stravinsky’s Canticum Sacrum.
In 1961 he was appointed organist and master of the choristers of Canterbury Cathedral, a post he held until 1988.There he regularly performed music by such composers as Messiaen, Ligeti, Tippett, Lennox Berkeley, and Alan Ridout. Wicks made several recordings, released on LP but yet to be issued on CD, of works by Alan Ridout, Messiaen (notably La nativité du Seigneur), Bach, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Franck, Widor, Alain and Reger. Wicks retired from Canterbury in 1988, having served under three archbishops and taught several generations of choristers.

Fayola Foltz Ash died March 15 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at age 85. Born in Lansing, Michigan, February 24, 1926, she received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in 1948. She taught piano for over 50 years, mostly in Ann Arbor, was organist at First Methodist Church, Chelsea, for over 15 years, and directed the children’s choir at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, for many years. She was a member of the American Guild of Organistsand the Ann Arbor Area Piano Teacher’s Guild. Ash accompanied many soloists and substituted at various churches as choir director, organist, and pianist.

George Evans Boyer died March 16 in Pennsylvania. He was 64. A graduate of St. Clair High School, West Chester University (1969), and Temple University (1974), Boyer was director of choral activities at William Allen High School in the Allentown School District from 1970–2000, and local sales representative of the Allen Organ Company following his retirement from teaching. Boyer served as a music director and organist for 49 years, at Temple Beth El Synagogue, St. John’s UCC, St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, and Christ Lutheran Church (all in Allentown), and Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Yonkers, New York. He also led European summer tours, and was a member of many musical organizations, including the New York City AGO chapter. George Evans Boyer is survived by his wife of 40 years, Susan Carol Boyer, and a cousin.

Jeanne Norman Briggs died March 30 in Hartwick, New York, at the age of 61. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho in 1972, and studied with Claire Coci at the American Music Academy in New Jersey. Briggs had played recitals in Europe and New York City, and served as organist for the First United Presbyterian Church in Oneonta, and for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in New Berlin. She was a member of the Oneonta AGO chapter. Jeanne Norman Briggs is survived by her husband John, whom she married in 1980, two stepchildren, two brothers, a sister, and her caregiver.

Otis Herbert Colvin Jr. died January 21 in Waco, Texas, at the age of 87. He earned a BA from Baylor University in 1944, and then served in the Navy during World War II, until 1946, when he returned to Baylor and earned his music degree in 1948, followed by an MMus degree from the University of Colorado in 1950. Colvin earned his PhD from the Eastman School of Music in 1958. He taught music for five years at Texas Tech University; at Baylor University he taught music theory, piano, and carillon for more than 40 years, and was university carillonneur. As a pianist and organist, Colvin served in Waco at Central Christian, Columbus Avenue Baptist, and Seventh and James Baptist churches. He was a member of the AGO, and was a 32nd degree Baptist Mason. A composer and editor of music, his compositions include organ voluntaries based on early American hymn tunes, and other organ works. Otis Herbert Colvin Jr. is survived by his wife Mary Ila Colvin, three daughters, a sister, a brother, six grandchildren, and three great-granddaughters.

Virginia Herrmann died at age 96, on March 17 in Storrs, Connecticut. She graduated from Indiana University, and earned master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Yale University, where she studied with Paul Hindemith. While at Yale, she met and married Heinz Herrmann, her husband of 65 years; they moved to Storrs in 1955, where she was appointed adjunct organ professor at the University of Connecticut, and music director-organist at St. Mark’s Chapel. Herrmann had studied the Chinese language and Asian music, and had edited several collections of Asian music. In 2005, the Herrmanns established the Heinz and Virginia
Herrmann Distinguished Lecture Series on Human Rights and the Life Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Virginia Herrmann is survived by a daughter, a niece, and many friends.
Sebron Yates Hood Jr., 79 years old, died December 17, 2010, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He began playing piano for the Matthews Baptist Church in Matthews, North Carolina, while in high school; he received his bachelor’s degree in music from Erskine College in 1953, and an MSM in 1955 from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he studied with Vernon deTar. From 1955–65 Hood served as organist and choirmaster at Sardis Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and at Trinity Episcopal Church from 1967 until his retirement in 1992. He was a past dean of the Charlotte AGO chapter, a founding member of the Strand AGO chapter, and of the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte. Sebron Yates Hood Jr. is survived by his wife of 54 years, Belle Miller Spivey Hood, a daughter, two sons, a brother, seven grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.

Sarah Fant Jones died March 26 in Union, South Carolina. She studied at Converse College and Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music in New York City. She had served as organist for area churches that included Cane Creek Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Grace United Methodist Church, and First Presbyterian Church. A member of the Spartanburg AGO chapter, Jones and her family helped to secure the 1954 III/30 Schantz organ at the First Baptist Church of Union; in 1995 the instrument was restored and expanded by Schantz. Sarah Fant Jones is survived by four nephews.

David A. Pizarro, 79 years old, died February 23 in Nyack, New York. He studied at Yale University School of Music, where he earned a BMus in 1952 and an MMus in 1953; he was the recipient of a Fulbright grant from 1953–55 at the State Academy of Detmold, Germany. Pizarro had studied organ with Norman Coke-Jephcott, Michael Schneider, and Marcel Dupré. A visiting faculty member at the University of North Carolina in 1960–61, Pizarro held positions at North Carolina State College, Durham, in 1962–65, and was on the faculty of the Longy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1965–71. He served as organist-choirmaster at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on the campus of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, from 1972–74, as master of the choristers at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 1974–77, and as organist at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Pleasantville, New York, 1983–96, and Sinai Temple in Mount Vernon from 1985–89. Pizarro was a member of the Royal College of Organists, a fellow of Trinity College of Music, London, and the Westminster AGO chapter; he had served the Durham AGO chapter as dean from 1962–65.

John Albert Stokes died May 15 in Princeton, New Jersey. Born December 21, 1937, he lived in New Brunswick and Princeton. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1961–1964. A self-taught musician, organist, and composer, Stokes worked as a pipe organ builder and piano tuner. For many years he served as organist for the Sayreville United Methodist Church. He was a member of the Middlesex, Monmouth, and Central Jersey AGO chapters. His compositions were played at many AGO members’ recitals, including a favorite Ode to St. Lucy’s Day. In addition, his skills as an organ builder were used for education, giving demonstrations and presentations to colleagues, providing old pipes for educational purposes. John Albert Stokes is survived by a brother and a sister.

Fayola Foltz Ash died March 15 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at age 85. Born in Lansing, Michigan, February 24, 1926, she received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in 1948. She taught piano for over 50 years, mostly in Ann Arbor, was organist at First Methodist Church, Chelsea, for over 15 years, and directed the children’s choir at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, for many years. She was a member of the American Guild of Organistsand the Ann Arbor Area Piano Teacher’s Guild. Ash accompanied many soloists and substituted at various churches as choir director, organist, and pianist.

George Evans Boyer died March 16 in Pennsylvania. He was 64. A graduate of St. Clair High School, West Chester University (1969), and Temple University (1974), Boyer was director of choral activities at William Allen High School in the Allentown School District from 1970–2000, and local sales representative of the Allen Organ Company following his retirement from teaching. Boyer served as a music director and organist for 49 years, at Temple Beth El Synagogue, St. John’s UCC, St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, and Christ Lutheran Church (all in Allentown), and Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Yonkers, New York. He also led European summer tours, and was a member of many musical organizations, including the New York City AGO chapter. George Evans Boyer is survived by his wife of 40 years, Susan Carol Boyer, and a cousin.

Jeanne Norman Briggs died March 30 in Hartwick, New York, at the age of 61. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho in 1972, and studied with Claire Coci at the American Music Academy in New Jersey. Briggs had played recitals in Europe and New York City, and served as organist for the First United Presbyterian Church in Oneonta, and for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in New Berlin. She was a member of the Oneonta AGO chapter. Jeanne Norman Briggs is survived by her husband John, whom she married in 1980, two stepchildren, two brothers, a sister, and her caregiver.

Otis Herbert Colvin Jr. died January 21 in Waco, Texas, at the age of 87. He earned a BA from Baylor University in 1944, and then served in the Navy during World War II, until 1946, when he returned to Baylor and earned his music degree in 1948, followed by an MMus degree from the University of Colorado in 1950. Colvin earned his PhD from the Eastman School of Music in 1958. He taught music for five years at Texas Tech University; at Baylor University he taught music theory, piano, and carillon for more than 40 years, and was university carillonneur. As a pianist and organist, Colvin served in Waco at Central Christian, Columbus Avenue Baptist, and Seventh and James Baptist churches. He was a member of the AGO, and was a 32nd degree Baptist Mason. A composer and editor of music, his compositions include organ voluntaries based on early American hymn tunes, and other organ works. Otis Herbert Colvin Jr. is survived by his wife Mary Ila Colvin, three daughters, a sister, a brother, six grandchildren, and three great-granddaughters.

Virginia Herrmann died at age 96, on March 17 in Storrs, Connecticut. She graduated from Indiana University, and earned master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Yale University, where she studied with Paul Hindemith. While at Yale, she met and married Heinz Herrmann, her husband of 65 years; they moved to Storrs in 1955, where she was appointed adjunct organ professor at the University of Connecticut, and music director-organist at St. Mark’s Chapel. Herrmann had studied the Chinese language and Asian music, and had edited several collections of Asian music. In 2005, the Herrmanns established the Heinz and Virginia
Herrmann Distinguished Lecture Series on Human Rights and the Life Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Virginia Herrmann is survived by a daughter, a niece, and many friends.
Sebron Yates Hood Jr., 79 years old, died December 17, 2010, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He began playing piano for the Matthews Baptist Church in Matthews, North Carolina, while in high school; he received his bachelor’s degree in music from Erskine College in 1953, and an MSM in 1955 from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he studied with Vernon deTar. From 1955–65 Hood served as organist and choirmaster at Sardis Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and at Trinity Episcopal Church from 1967 until his retirement in 1992. He was a past dean of the Charlotte AGO chapter, a founding member of the Strand AGO chapter, and of the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte. Sebron Yates Hood Jr. is survived by his wife of 54 years, Belle Miller Spivey Hood, a daughter, two sons, a brother, seven grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.

Sarah Fant Jones died March 26 in Union, South Carolina. She studied at Converse College and Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music in New York City. She had served as organist for area churches that included Cane Creek Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Grace United Methodist Church, and First Presbyterian Church. A member of the Spartanburg AGO chapter, Jones and her family helped to secure the 1954 III/30 Schantz organ at the First Baptist Church of Union; in 1995 the instrument was restored and expanded by Schantz. Sarah Fant Jones is survived by four nephews.

David A. Pizarro, 79 years old, died February 23 in Nyack, New York. He studied at Yale University School of Music, where he earned a BMus in 1952 and an MMus in 1953; he was the recipient of a Fulbright grant from 1953–55 at the State Academy of Detmold, Germany. Pizarro had studied organ with Norman Coke-Jephcott, Michael Schneider, and Marcel Dupré. A visiting faculty member at the University of North Carolina in 1960–61, Pizarro held positions at North Carolina State College, Durham, in 1962–65, and was on the faculty of the Longy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1965–71. He served as organist-choirmaster at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on the campus of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, from 1972–74, as master of the choristers at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 1974–77, and as organist at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Pleasantville, New York, 1983–96, and Sinai Temple in Mount Vernon from 1985–89. Pizarro was a member of the Royal College of Organists, a fellow of Trinity College of Music, London, and the Westminster AGO chapter; he had served the Durham AGO chapter as dean from 1962–65.

John Albert Stokes died May 15 in Princeton, New Jersey. Born December 21, 1937, he lived in New Brunswick and Princeton. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1961–1964. A self-taught musician, organist, and composer, Stokes worked as a pipe organ builder and piano tuner. For many years he served as organist for the Sayreville United Methodist Church. He was a member of the Middlesex, Monmouth, and Central Jersey AGO chapters. His compositions were played at many AGO members’ recitals, including a favorite Ode to St. Lucy’s Day. In addition, his skills as an organ builder were used for education, giving demonstrations and presentations to colleagues, providing old pipes for educational purposes. John Albert Stokes is survived by a brother and a sister