Nunc Dimittis

John Ogasapian, of
Pepperell, Massachusetts, died in Los Angeles on July 11, shortly after he was
diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas and liver. He was 64. Dr. Ogasapian was
professor of music at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, where he had taught
since 1965. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ
and a Ph.D. in musicology from Boston University, where he was a student of the
late George Faxon. He was organist and choirmaster of St. Anne’s
Episcopal Church in Lowell 1961-99, and interim organist and choirmaster
of All Saints Church in Worcester, Massachusetts 2002-03. He authored or
edited eight books and published over a hundred articles, essays and reviews in
many journals including The Diapason. The Organ Historical
Society honored him with its Distinguished Service Award in 1994 and the
designation of Honorary Member in 2000.

Dr. Ogasapian served as editor of The Tracker: Journal of
the Organ Historical Society
(1993’2000) and was a contributing editor of Journal of Church
Music (1985’1988). He was chairman of
the 1978 OHS national convention in Lowell, Massachusetts, and chairman of the
2000 OHS American Organ Archives Symposium in Princeton, New Jersey.

His books include Litterae Organi: Essays in Honor of
Barbara Owen (edited by Ogasapian and
others; he also contributed an essay; OHS Press, 2005); Music of the
Colonial and Revolutionary Era (Greenwood
Press, 2004); The Varieties of Musicology: Essays in Honor of Murray
Lefkowitz (edited by John Daverio and John
Ogasapian, Harmonie Park Press, 2000); English Cathedral Music in New
York: Edward Hodges of Trinity Church (Organ
Historical Society, 1994); Church Organs: A Guide to Selection &
Purchase (Baker Book House, 1983, AGO &
OHS collaboration, 1990); Henry Erben: Portrait of a
Nineteenth-Century American Organ Builder
(Organ Literature Foundation, 1980); Organ Building in New York City:
1700’1900 (Organ Literature
Foundation, 1977). He was working on a ninth book, Music Culture in
the Guilded Age: Civil War to World War I,
at the time of his death.

He played his last recital on May 25 at Methuen Memorial
Music Hall, featuring works by Paine, Buck, Chadwick, Foote, Parker, Hovhaness,
Still, Rogers, Beach, and Matthews. His memorial service was held at All Saints
Church, Worcester, on July 30. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Nancy,
their daughter and son-in-law, and two grandchildren.

L. Robert Slusser
died May 29 in San Diego at the age of 83. He had served as minister of music
at La Jolla Presbyterian Church in California from 1968 to 1989. Born October
13, 1921, in Chicago, he studied piano and organ at the American Conservatory
of Music and was assistant organist to Leo Sowerby at St. James Cathedral.
During World War II he served as a lieutenant in the Navy. He earned a
bachelor’s degree in music at San Jose State College and served as
organist and assistant choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church, San Jose. He
received a master’s degree in organ from Northwestern University in 1953
and served as minister of music at First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham,
Michigan until 1968. In 1960 he was co-chair of the AGO national convention in
Detroit. When he was appointed to La Jolla Presbyterian Church, he developed
multiple choirs, string and brass ensembles, a Christian dance group, and a
Choir Festival series. Slusser was dean of the San Diego AGO chapter
1971’72 and was responsible for bringing many famous organists to San
Diego. In 1986 he received an honorary doctorate from Tarko College in St.
Louis. He is survived by his wife Shirley, two daughters, a son, two
grandchildren and two great-grandchilden. A service celebrating his life was
held on July 16 at La Jolla Presbyterian Church.

Ruth Virginia Sutton
died April 19 at her home in Ypsilanti, Michigan, after a long battle with
cancer. She was 59. Born May 12, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan, she graduated from
Wayne Memorial High School and then attended Capitol University. She
transferred to Eastern Michigan University where she earned bachelor’s
and master’s degrees in music. Mrs. Sutton served as a local piano
teacher for over 40 years, was organist at various area churches, accompanist
for the Ann Arbor Cantata Singers, and also the Walled Lake and Ypsilanti High
School choir programs. She is survived by her husband Ronald Sutton, two
daughters, and a granddaughter. Funeral services took place on April 22 at
First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor.

Bob G. Whitley died
July 31 at his home in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania, from liver cancer. He was 76.
For more than 30 years he was organist and choir director at Fox Chapel
Episcopal Church. Whitley grew up in Oklahoma and was a 1951 graduate of the
University of Oklahoma at Norman. He was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to
attend the Royal School of Church Music, then in Canterbury, England. He also
studied organ at the Royal College of Music in London and played recitals in
Canterbury Cathedral and Dover Town Hall. He served in the Army during the
Korean War, and was organist and director of music at the Letterman Army
Hospital Chapel at the Presidio in San Francisco. After the Army, he was
appointed organist at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, San Francisco, where
he helped design and oversee the installation of a 55-rank Aeolian-Skinner
organ. In 1964, Whitley was appointed to Fox Chapel Episcopal Church. He also
directed the Pittsburgh Savoyards, a Gilbert & Sullivan opera company, the
Shady Side Academy Glee Club, and the glee club at The Ellis School. After
leaving Fox Chapel Episcopal Church in 1999, Whitley served as organist and choir
director at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fox Chapel, where he remained
until his retirement last year.

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.

Enrique Alberto Arias, 63, died on December 1, 2004, at Weiss Memorial Hospital, Chicago. Survived by close friends and colleagues, there are no immediate family survivors. A musicologist, Dr. Arias was associate professor at DePaul University's School of New Learning, and president of Ars Musica Chicago.

The son of Enrique (the Consul General of Panama in Chicago) and Jeanne Arias, Enrique Arias was born April 26, 1941 in Chicago. He received a bachelor of music in piano performance from the DePaul University School of Music, a master of arts in musicology from the University of Chicago, and in 1971, a Ph.D. in music history and literature from Northwestern University. Dr. Arias was a faculty member, and later president, of the Chicago Conservatory of Music. He then served as chairman of Humanities and Graduate Studies at the American Conservatory of Music, and in 1993 began his tenure at DePaul. Arias was also a member of the American Musicological Society, and throughout his career he was a keynote speaker at numerous conferences on Latin American music.

As a researcher and writer, Dr. Arias traveled yearly to churches, archives and libraries around the world. His many publications include The Masses of Sebastian de Vivanco (circa 1550-1622): A Study of Polyphonic Settings of the Ordinary in Late Renaissance Spain (University Microfilms, 1971), Alexander Tcherepnin: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood Press, 1989), and Comedy in Music: A Historical Bibliographical Resource Guide (Greenwood Press, 2001). He was one of four editors of Essays in Honor of John F. Ohl: A Compendium of American Musicology (Northwestern University Press, 2001), and one of his most significant publications was the edition of Three Masses by Sebastian de Vivanco (A-R Editions, circa 1978). Arias also had numerous articles published in music journals, including Music Review, Tempo, Perspectives of New Music, Anuario Musical, Lituanus (The Lithuanian Quarterly), and the Latin American Music Review. His final two articles were "Maps and Music: How the Bounding Confidence of the Elizabethan Age Was Celebrated in a Madrigal by Weelkes" (published in the winter 2003-04 edition of Early Music America), and "Jules Massenet, French Cantatas for a Martyr, and Vincentian Composers" (published in the September 2004 issue of The Diapason).

As a pianist, Arias was most active in the 1970s and 1980s, performing regionally at many venues including Preston Bradley Hall, and internationally with the late soprano Dahlia Kucenas at concert halls throughout Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, and South America. He also served as president of Ars Musica Chicago, an early music ensemble, a position he held since 1988.

A memorial service took place December 12, 2004 at St. Vincent de Paul Church, Chicago, and a concert was given in his memory on January 9, 2005, also at St. Vincent de Paul Church. Contributions may be made in his memory to Ars Musica Chicago, P.O. Box  A-3279, Chicago, IL 60690.

Lois Rhea Land, 88, long-time teacher, composer, author, and mentor to many music educators throughout Texas, died December 9, 2004, of complications from a fall a year and a half ago that left her paralyzed. Born in Milton, Kansas, she was a child prodigy in piano and received music degrees from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. From 1945 to 1964 she taught music in the Corpus Christi, Texas public schools, and served as a judge and clinician throughout the southwest. A founding member of the Texas Choral Directors Association in 1950, she also collaborated with many conductors and singers as accompanist for the Texas All-State Choir in the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1964 she joined the music faculty at Southern Methodist University, where she taught music education and supervised the graduate music education division until 1980. From 1980-88 she served as adjunct professor of music education at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth. A church organist from an early age, she served Dallas congregations as organist and choir director, including Northaven and Munger Place United Methodist Churches, and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Rockwall.

Her numerous choral compositions were published by Plymouth, Southern Music, Bourne, Edwin Morris, Mark Foster, and Lawson-Gould, and was the co-author of numerous college and choral music textbooks. Most recent publications include several volumes of sight-reading materials and techniques published by Alliance Music Company in Houston, and A Cappella Songs Without Words (AMC).

She is survived by one daughter, Christina Harmon, of Dallas, Texas, and three grandchildren. A memorial service was held at Perkins Chapel, Southern Methodist University, December 27, 2004.

Charles Wilson McManis died December 3, 2004, in South Burlington, Vermont, after suffering a fall at his home the evening before. He was born March 17, 1913, in Kansas City, Kansas, and was preceded in death by his first wife, Charlotte Bridge McManis, an elder brother and a younger sister. He is survived by his second wife, Judith Fisher McManis of South Burlington, two sons and a daughter.

Mr. McManis grew up in a musical family. At age three, sitting in church with his mother (his father was choir director), he was fascinated by the sounds of the organ, and remembered humming its very high pitches. At age twelve he experimented with making wood and metal organ pipes from fruit crates and coffee cans. As a teenager he constructed an organ with four ranks of pipes that he installed in the family's finished attic. He completed studies at the University of Kansas in 1936 with a BA degree, specializing in theoretical courses useful to an organbuilder. Following this, in 1937, was a bachelor of music degree in composition and organ performance. While at the university, he apprenticed during vacations with an organ factory representative, repairing, voicing and tuning organs. On graduation he set up shop in Kansas City, Kansas, building or rebuilding half a dozen organs before Pearl Harbor and WWII halted U.S. organbuilding.

In April, 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. After basic training at Camp Roberts, California, he was retained to teach organists of the nine regimental chapels, and was assigned to 11th Regimental Chapel. The following year he was shipped overseas with the 221st General Hospital to Chalon-sur-Marne, France, ninety miles east of Paris. At war's end, he returned to Kansas City, where he married Charlotte Bridge on June 9, 1946.

At McManis Organs, Charles and his staff would build, renovate or restore more than one hundred thirty-five organs for churches, homes and universities throughout the USA over the next five decades. Because of his musical training, he was one of the first organbuilders who could actually play much of the literature written for the organ. His passion was to design and voice instruments suited to play this great variety of music. Even his smallest organs encouraged exploration of the rich and colorful repertoire available.

His ability at pipe voicing was legendary among his peers. Over the years, he wrote extensively, mentored younger organbuilders and conducted several clinics to teach others about his voicing "secrets." He was a founding member of the American Institute of Organbuilders.

Retiring (theoretically) in June, 1986, McManis moved to the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Charlotte, who died of cancer four months after their arrival. He stayed on in California, occasionally tuning and repairing organs, and hiking in Yosemite and the Sierras. In July 1989, a Connecticut tornado that heavily damaged the McManis organ at St. John's Episcopal Church, Waterbury, Connecticut, took Charles McManis out of retirement, calling him east to replace 35 of 60 ranks in his Opus 35, first installed in 1957. Due to the extensive damage to the building, as well as the organ, several parishioners were appointed to coordinate a variety of repair programs, including Judith Fisher who was to oversee the organ restoration. After working together for eighteen months, she and Charles were married November 2, 1991. He continued working with organs in Connecticut, acting as consultant and overseeing the installation or restoration of several instruments in the area. He served as curator of the organ at St. John's for just over 10 years.

In 2001, Charles and Judith moved to Vermont. He was able to complete work on his autobiography just days before his death. A "Celebration of Charles' Life" took place January 8 at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul (Episcopal) in Burlington. Donations may be made to the Music Ministry of St. Paul's.

Gordon W. Brooks died on January 20 in Warren, Ohio, at the age of 82. He was born on February 22, 1916 in Mineral Ridge, Ohio, attended Niles McKinley High School, and earned the BA in organ from YSU Dana School of Music. He was a piano and organ teacher for many years and was organist at Indianola Methodist Church in Youngstown; organist at several Lutheran churches in the Youngstown and Niles area; music director at First Presbyterian Church in Warren for 14 years; and organist at Robert H. Roberts-Clark Memorial Home for 10 years. An Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, he was a member of the National Gmanfa Ganu Welsh Society, where he was organist for 50 years and formed the Welsh quartet "Cor Bach Cymreig."

Patricia "June" Kean died last November in Springfield, Missouri. She was born on June 22, 1933, in Fort Worth, Texas, and was married to Barry Kean in 1959. She was preceded in death by her husband, and is survived by three sons, three grandchildren, and two sisters. Dr. Kean completed the BMus at Oklahoma City University in 1954, the MMus in piano at Eastman School of Music in 1957, and the DMA at North Texas State University in 1973. She served for many years as organist at University Heights Baptist Church and Minister of Music at Calvary Temple, as well as organist for King's Way United Methodist Church in Springfield. She had played recitals in Argentina, Austria, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, China, and the US. A long-time member of the AGO, Dr. Kean served as Dean of the Springfield chapter. She was also a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the Springfield Music Club, and the Missouri Teachers National Association.

Lawrence I. Phelps died on February 22 of double pneumonia at a hospital in Boston. He was 75 years old. He was born on May 10, 1923 in Boston, and studied conducting and organ at the New England Conservatory of Music. He apprenticed with G. Donald Harrison at the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in 1944 and worked for the company for five years, and then spent a year as a voicer and tonal finisher with Walter Holtkamp. In 1949 he became an independent consultant and was engaged by the Christian Science Board of Directors to oversee the design, installation and tonal finishing of two organs for the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston. He was appointed tonal director of Casavant Frères in 1958, set up a division at Casavant for mechanical action organs in 1961, and remained with the firm until 1971. Phelps operated his own firm in Erie, Pennsylvania 1973-78. Among the organs he built are the IV/74 mechanical action organ for the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence, Rhode Island, and the 1973 installation at St. Luke's Church, Ft. Collins, Colorado. From 1982-1995 he was tonal director of Allen Organ Company. Prior to this he was responsible for nearly 800 pipe organs, 60 of which were mechanical action. He left Allen to become curator of organs at the Mother Church in Boston. His first marriage was to Ruth Barrett, organist of the Mother Church, Boston. He later married British organist Gillian Weir. He was a frequent lecturer at organ builder conferences and wrote many articles for a number of organ journals including The Diapason. A memorial service will be held on April 17 at 2 pm at Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston.

--David Burton Brown

Henry Murlin Kelsay,
82, died August 23 in Springfield, Missouri. He was born on February 17, 1923
in Versailles, Missouri. After graduation from high school in Booneville,
Missouri, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942, rising to the rank of 1st
lieutenant and serving as an air corps navigator. He fought in several World
War II battles and air campaigns in southern France and Italy, and was
decorated with numerous medals and citations. Kelsay graduated from Union
Theological Seminary in New York City, and went on to serve as music director
at several churches in the Little Rock, Arkansas area, including Pulaski
Heights Methodist Church and Christ Episcopal Church. He served as dean of the
Central Arkansas AGO chapter 1954-55 and 1959-61. Later in life he
became interested in interior decorating and was successful in that endeavor.

At the time of his death, Kelsay was a member of St. James
Episcopal Church in Springfield, Missouri. A memorial service took place there
on September 17. He is survived by his sister-in-law and three nephews.

--Virginia Strohmeyer-Miles

Noel Mander, MBE,
FSA, prominent British organbuilder, died September 18 at his home in Suffolk,
England, at the age of 93.

Born on May 19, 1912 in Crouch near Wrotham, Mander was
brought up in South London. Having left school (which he hated), he went to
work for A & C Black, publishers. The office work did not suit him,
however, and through his uncle, Frederick Pike, he met Ivor Davis who had
worked for Hill, Norman & Beard. After working with him for a while, Mander
started on his own in 1936, the first organ being that at St. Peter’s
Bethnal Green opposite St. Peter’s School, which years later was to
become the organ works. Unfortunately, Christ Church Jamaica Street, Stepney, where
he rented workspace, together with the organ he was working on and all his
equipment, were lost in the first air raid on East London 1940.

Shortly after that, he joined the Royal Artillery, seeing
service in North Africa and Italy, where he worked on a number of instruments,
including the organ in Algiers Cathedral, which had been silent for years.
Having been invalided out of active service in Italy, he joined the Army
Welfare Service and during his convalescence he repaired a 17th-century organ
in Trani.

After the war he assisted the London Diocese in getting
organs working again in bomb-damaged churches. He set up a workshop in an old
butcher’s shop in Collier Street before moving in 1946 into the old
buildings of St. Peter’s School in Bethnal Green, where the firm remains
to this day. In 1948 he married Enid Watson with whom he had five children,
living over the workshop in Bethnal Green. Most of his early work revolved
around the rebuilding of organs, many of which survive to this day.

He always had an affection for historic instruments and
restored a number of antique chamber organs, setting new standards for the time
with his sympathetic appreciation and restoration of them. Of particular note
was the restoration of the 17th-century organ at Adlington Hall in Cheshire in
1958-59, which was in a completely desolate state. It had not been
playable for perhaps a century, 
but with painstaking care the organ was restored and remains one of the
most important survivors in England.

In the 1960s he became aware that interest was growing in
tracker-action organs in the rest of Europe, and this encouraged him to
investigate this form of action himself, initially in the restoration of
instruments (which otherwise might have been electrified) and then in new
organs. Ultimately a number of such instruments were built including the export
of some to places such as Bermuda and the Sir Winston Churchill Memorial
Foundation in Fulton, Missouri.

Having been involved with the rebuilding of a number of
large organs, he was awarded the contract to rebuild the organ in St.
Paul’s Cathedral in London during the 1970s. This project, lasting almost
five years, was perhaps his greatest pride and was completed just in time for
the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations at St. Paul’s. In 1978 H.M.
Queen Elizabeth made him a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He
retired in 1983 to his home in Suffolk, but retained an interest in what the
firm was doing right to the end. The 60th anniversary of the Mander firm was
marked in 1996 by publication of a collection of essays in his honor entitled
Fanfare for an Organ Builder.

Noel Mander’s interests were by no means restricted to
organs. He was a keen historian and an avid bookworm. He was a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries and very active in the Council of Christians and Jews
for many years. He became a very popular member of the Earl Soham community in
Suffolk, where he retired to in 1983. He was also the British representative
for the Sir Winston Churchill Foundation in Missouri and secured a number of
significant pieces of antique furniture for the Wren church rebuilt there,
including, during the last year of his life, a fine 18th-century pulpit that
had once stood in a City church.

Philip Marshall, who
served as organist at both Ripon and Lincoln cathedrals, died on July 16. Born
in Brighouse in 1921, his early studies were with Whiteley Singleton, a pupil
of Edward Bairstow. He gained an Associateship of the Royal College of Music,
and in 1946 won three prizes in the Fellowship examination of the Royal College
of Organists. He earned his BMus at Durham in 1950, by which time he was
assistant to Melville Cook at Leeds Parish Church. He also served as organist
at All Souls, Haley Hill, Halifax, where he met Margaret Bradbury, whom he
married in 1951, and who survives him. The Marshalls moved that year to Boston,
working at the Parish Church and Grammar School. By 1957,
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Philip Marshall had completed his
doctorate at Durham, studying with Bairstow’s York successor, Francis
Jackson, and was appointed organist at Ripon Cathedral. Founding the choir
school, rebuilding the cathedral instrument and producing a chant book were
highlights of his tenure at Ripon.

An accomplished model engineer, organbuilder and composer as
well as an outstanding organist, accompanist and teacher, Dr. Marshall served
as organist and master of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral for 20 years
until retirement in 1986. The Dean and Chapter named him Organist Emeritus in
the early 1990s.

Dorothy Hildegard Nordblad died of congestive heart failure on September 9 at the Moorings, a
retirement community in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She was 93. A lifelong
member of Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Chicago, she served for 37 years as
organist and director of junior choirs at Edison Park Lutheran Church, where
she directed 60 children in three choirs. Nordblad also taught history, math
and music to hundreds of children, serving the Chicago public schools for 40
years.

The daughter of Swedish immigrants, she was born in Chicago
in 1911 and graduated from Senn High School before attending Northwestern
University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in education in 1932
and a master’s degree in education in 1946.

Her teaching career began at Stewart School, and in the late
1950s Nordblad moved to Beaubien Elementary School on the Northwest Side. In
addition to teaching, she was assistant principal, a position she held until
her retirement in the 1970s. After she moved to the Moorings retirement home,
she organized and directed the choir there, continuing as its director for more
than seven years. Funeral services were held on September 14 at Ebenezer
Lutheran Church, Chicago.

Donald W. Williams,
of Ann Arbor, died September 22 at the Chelsea Retirement Center, Chelsea,
Michigan, following a seven-month battle with cancer. He was 66.

Williams received his bachelor’s degree (1961) and
master’s degree (1962) from Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee,
where he studied with Scott Withrow. In 1979 he received the DMA from the
University of Michigan, where he studied with Marilyn Mason. At Michigan, he
was given the Palmer Christian Award by the Organ Department of the School of
Music in recognition of his accomplishments in teaching, performing, and choral
conducting.

Dr. Williams served as organist and choirmaster at Zion
Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor from 1963 until 1995, when he became
organist-choirmaster at Chelsea First United Methodist Church, a position he
held until his death. He was a member of the organ faculty of the National
Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, from 1966 to 1970, and was adjunct
lecturer in organ at the University of Michigan in the early 1970s. He taught
organ performance and church music at Concordia University in Ann Arbor (1976-95,
1999 until his death). He was co-founder of the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale, which
he directed with Richard Ingram and Ruth Datz from 1987 to 2001, and was
founder and conductor of the American Chorale of Sacred Music.

Williams performed at churches and cathedrals in this
country and abroad, including the National Cathedral and the Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New
York City, St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, and various European venues.
From 1981 to 1985 he performed as a member of Principal VI, a group of
organists from the greater Ann Arbor area. In 1986, he gave the world premiere
of Vincent Persichetti’s last composition, Give Peace, O God.

In addition to the various positions he held in the Ann
Arbor chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Williams was chair of worship
standards and repertoire of the American Choral Directors’ Association
(1995-2001), and a member of the board of the Boy Choir of Ann Arbor from
2000 until his death. He was a life member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Funeral services were held on September 26 at First
Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. Williams is survived by his 97-year-old
father, Joel Williams, of Marietta, Georgia.

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.