Nunc dimittis

Nunc Dimittis

Robert V. (Bob) Clement, 67, of Avondale, Pennsylvania, died November 18 after a brief illness. An electrical engineer by profession, his greatest passion was music. He started piano lessons at age five. and on a visit to the U.S. Air Force Academy Chapel at age 17 he discovered the pipe organ. He immediately began lessons and continued to play at churches for weddings and other services throughout his life. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso, and moved to South Carolina after graduation to work for the DuPont Company in the Fibers Division. He served churches for 25 years, ending at Hanover Presbyterian Church.

Clement retired in 2011 after 38 years with DuPont/INVISTA. He married his interests in designing, model building, and music by building his own Hauptwerk organ in the basement of his home. He became treasurer of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival, joined the board of the Delaware American Guild of Organists chapter, and became the director of the English Cathedral Tour, which offered the chance to play pipe organs in famous cathedrals around the United Kingdom. 

Clement’s other hobbies included architecture (he designed two homes that were built in Lugoff, South Carolina), home computers, and learning about the Titanic. One of his lifelong dreams was completing a trans-Atlantic crossing by boat, which he did in 2012 during the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. He was fascinated with London, its history and cathedrals, and golf. 

Robert Clement is survived by his wife Karen Hudson of Avondale, Pennsylvania; son Chris Clement of Newark, Delaware; daughter Renee and husband Dan Roush of Haymarket, Virginia; grandchildren Megan Diehl, Davis Roush, and Maggie Roush; mother Shirley Fouts; and siblings Brian Clement, Carol Abraham, and Rosemary Schultz.

Richard Gordon Enright, 93, died December 23, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia. Born on November 29, 1923, in Freeport, Illinois, he had completed two years of study at the University of Dubuque when World War II broke out. Subsequently he served in Patton’s Third Army of the 26th Infantry Division from 1943 until the war ended in 1946.

Enright received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 1948, followed by a Master of Music degree a year later and a Doctor of Music in 1961. While at Northwestern, he met his future wife, Clara Mae (Sandy) Sandehn, an organist and singer. They were married in 1949. Enright served on the faculty of the School of Music at Northwestern for 35 years, becoming chairman of the department of church music and organ in 1969 and serving until his retirement in 1989, when he was named Professor Emeritus of Church Music and Organ.

Enright pursued additional study at the Royal School of Church Music in England and at the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Frankfort, Germany. His text on organ instruction, Fundamentals of Organ Playing, continues in wide use. He lectured at Chicago Theological Seminary and at the Music Teachers Conference in Berkeley. He presented numerous recitals across the United States. He served as associate organist and choirmaster at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago under the direction of his teacher Barrett Spach, followed by a 22-year tenure as organist and choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church in Evanston. He then served the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest as organist for 23 years, retiring at age 70. In 2005 Dick and Sandy relocated to Atlanta to be closer to their daughter and her family. 

Richard Gordon Enright is survived by his wife of 67 years, Sandy, daughter Catharine (Walton Reeves) and son Steven (Krista) of Fort Worth, and grandsons Harrison Reeves and Kevin and Scott Enright. A memorial service was held January 6 at Trinity Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Donations may be made in his memory to the Adele McKee Music Fund of Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Road, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30327.

Thomas Harmon, organist and educator, died November 14 at age 77 in Medford, Oregon, after a long illness. Born in Springfield, Illinois, on February 28, 1939, he began playing the piano at age 6 and organ at age 11. He played regularly at the First Methodist Church, on radio, and in local restaurants and lounges. He also is remembered for renovating the theatre organ from the Orpheum Theatre and moving it to Springfield High School.

Harmon earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in music with honors at Washington University, St. Louis, and a master’s degree in music with honors at Stanford University. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study organ in Austria with Anton Heiller. It was there that he met and married fellow Fulbright student Sue Snow in June 1964. His special research interest was the organ works of J. S. Bach.

Harmon’s academic career was devoted to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he began in 1968 as assistant professor and university organist. He went on to become full professor and served as chairman of the Department of Music for seven years. Harmon performed frequently as organist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras, American Youth Symphony, UCLA Philharmonic Orchestra, UCLA Wind Ensemble, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Thomas Harmon performed recitals across the United States, with broadcasts on American Public Radio, the BBC, as well as in Mexico, Japan, and numerous European countries. As university organist, he oversaw a major renovation of the UCLA concert hall organ after damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. During his tenure at UCLA he also served for 20 years as organist of First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica.

Harmon retired in 2002 to Medford, Oregon, where he continued to perform in concerts and churches. He was preceded in death by his domestic partner, John Crutcher.

Thomas Harmon is survived by his brothers, Charles Harmon of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Bob Harmon of Jacksonville, Florida, and his former wife, Sue Harmon of Ashland, Oregon. A memorial service was held on November 21. Donations may be made to the American Guild of Organists/Southern Oregon Chapter, c/o Margaret Evans, 1250 Green Meadows Way, Ashland, Oregon 97520.

Sister Marie Juan Maney, OP, died December 2, 2016, at Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. Sister Marie Juan was born April 25, 1927, in Big Bend, Wisconsin. She made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican 1947 and her final profession in 1950. She taught music for 37 years, served as liturgist and music director for six years, and directed numerous choirs and coordinated musical events for 24 years, serving communities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, and Minnesota. As a liturgist and music director, she served St. Cajetan Parish, Chicago, 1984–1988, as well as St. Peter Parish, Forest Lake, Minnesota, 1988–1990. She was organist and choir director for St. Augustine Parish, Platteville, Wisconsin, 1990–2010, as well as at her motherhouse in Sinsinawa from 1990 until 2014. There, she also orchestrated the Elizabethan Dinner, the Sinsinawa Summer Organ Concert Series, and the annual Messiah concert at “Sinsinawa Mound.”

Sister Marie Juan Maney is survived by two sisters, Eileen Nettesheim and Margaret Loughney, and her Dominican Sisters with whom she shared life for 69 years. The funeral Mass for Sister Marie Juan Maney was held in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa, December 5. Memorials may be made to the Sinsinawa Dominicans, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, 53824-9701 or online at www.sinsinawa.org.

Philip D. Minnick, 68, died December 26 in Columbus, Ohio. He was born August 25, 1948, in Springfield, Ohio, and attended Capital University of Columbus, from 1966 to 1969, majoring in voice and organ studies. His interest in the pipe organ began in 1960 with the installation of an organ by
M. P. Möller in Central Methodist Church (now Faith United Methodist Church), Springfield. While in college he worked for A. W. Brandt Pipe Organ Company of Columbus. During this time, he met his future business and life partner, Robert W. Bunn, Jr. In 1969, the Bunn=Minnick Pipe Organ Company was formed in Columbus, a firm which has built organs for installations in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Philip Minnick was a founding member of the Ohio Village Singers, a member of the Columbus Maennerchor, the Broad Street United Methodist Church of Columbus, and the American Institute of Organbuilders.

Philip Minnick is survived by his business and life partner, Robert W. Bunn, Jr., of Columbus, sister Lisa of Ft. Myers, Florida, and adopted sister, Karen Freudigman of Columbus.

Nunc Dimittis

Raymond Daveluy, Canadian organist, composer and teacher, died September 1. He was 89. As a youth he studied with his father, organist and bandmaster Lucien Daveluy. Daveluy studied music theory with Gabriel Cusson and organ with Conrad Letendre in Montréal and with Hugh Giles in New York City. Daveluy presided over the 5-manual 1960 Beckerath organ at the Oratoire Saint-Joseph on Mont-Royal in Montréal from 1960 until 2002. He served as president of the Académie de musique du Québec and director of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

Peter Jay Hopkins, 57, died September 26. Born April 14, 1959, in Frankfort, Michigan, he was a singer, conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and a noted music and biblical scholar. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees with subsequent doctoral work at Michigan State University and studied with Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart, Germany. He served the Oregon Bach Festival for thirty years as chorus master, harpsichordist, organist, vocal coach, and singer, winning a Grammy Award in 1997. He served as associate professor of music at Kalamazoo College and artistic director and conductor of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival. With his wife, Paula Pugh Romanaux, he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to serve as minister of music for Westminster Presbyterian Church, director of the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, chorus master of the Grand Rapids Symphony, and founder of the Michigan Bach Collegium. Peter and Paula moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be co-directors of music for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church for 12 years. In 2014, Hopkins became director of music for St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia; he directed the Virginia Girls Choir and founded the Virginia Boys Choir. Peter Jay Hopkins is survived by his wife, Paula Pugh Romanaux, daughter Hannah Grace Hopkins, brothers James, Randy, Jeff, Paul, and Verne, sisters, Linda and Lynn, and their spouses and partners. 

Robert Burns King, 78, died September 27 in Burlington, North Carolina. Born in 1938, he grew up in Conway, South Carolina, where he began to play for Episcopal and Methodist churches. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music and French at Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, and a master of sacred music degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where he studied organ with Vernon de Tar. He studied as a Fulbright Scholar in 1961–62 with Maurice Duruflé and Jean Langlais and was the first American to win the Prix de Virtuosité from the Schola Cantorum in Paris. Later, he studied in Germany with Michael Schneider.

His early career was spent as organist for churches in Greenville, South Carolina, Rockaway Beach, New York, and in Paris. After a year of teaching at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, he served for 45 years as organist-choirmaster for an extensive music program at Burlington’s First Presbyterian Church, retiring in 2007. During this time he taught at Elon College (now University), Elon, North Carolina, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G). He was a consultant for various new organ projects, including Schantz and Andover organs at the First Presbyterian Church and for an Andover organ at UNC-G. He performed recitals across the United States as well as in Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, and Portugal.

Robert Burns King is survived by a brother-in-law, Daniel Burn Shelley, Jr., a niece and nephew, Susan Shelley Sisk and husband Mike, and Daniel Burn Shelley, III, and wife April, and extended family. 

Arthur D. Rhea Jr., former organist and choirmaster for 23 years at the Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore and organ faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory, died August 14 of cancer at his home. He was 97. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Rhea studied music for two years at what is now Carnegie Mellon University, and also studied organ for two years with Carl Weinrich at the Delacroze School of Music in New York City. During World War II, Rhea served in Europe as a field artillery officer with Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.’s 3rd Army. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of captain. In 1949, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Yale University and in 1950 received a master’s in music from Yale. He studied further at the Berkshire Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the Salzburg Music Festival, where he studied conducting under Herbert von Karajan.

In 1950, Rhea was named organist and choirmaster at historic Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1951 he was appointed music consultant and resident harpsichordist for Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., which provided him in 1953 a research grant to study 18th-century music at the British Museum in London. He was also instructor in organ at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and performed regularly at the Governor’s Palace, including command performances for such figures as England’s Queen Mother and the Crown Prince of Belgium.

Rhea came to Baltimore in 1961 when he was appointed organist and choirmaster at Redeemer. In 1963 he joined the Peabody Conservatory organ faculty, retiring in 1984. Rhea’s compositions included Toccata on an American Folk Tune, Te Deum Laudamus, and Psalm T wenty-Four. He also served on the Service Music Committee, which compiled and edited The Hymnal 1982 of the Episcopal Church. He was a past president of the Association of Anglican Musicians.

Arthur D. Rhea, Jr., is survived by his wife, Dorothea Rhea, sons Clifton L. Rhea and R. Douglas Rhea, and eight grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son, Arthur D. Rhea, III, in 2004.

Nunc Dimittis

Harry Lyn Huff, minister of music for Old South Church, Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts, died November 3, of complications from a brain aneurism. Born October 25, 1952, in Sevierville, Tennessee, he studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, and later at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. He won competitions sponsored by the American Guild of Organists, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, the National Society of Arts and Letters, and the Music Teachers’ National Association. He was guest artist at the Aspen, Spoleto, Mostly Mozart, Copenhagen, and Avignon summer festivals, and appeared with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the American Composer’s Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the New York Pops, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

From 1978 until 2004, he enjoyed a career in New York City that included collaborations with artists as varied as Jessye Norman, Judy Collins, Al Hirt, and Lar Lubovitch. His recording projects included organ music of late composers Calvin Hampton and Chris DeBlasio. More recent solo organ recital appearances included the E. Power Biggs Celebrity Series Recitals at Busch Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Peter Schickele’s “PDQ Bach” concerts in Carnegie Hall, New York City.

From 1984 until 2004, Huff was director of music for Calvary Episcopal Church and from 1986 until 2004 organist and artist-in-residence at Union Theological Seminary, both in New York City. He also served as adjunct organist at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, organist of Temple Shaaray Tefita, and director of choral activities for the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, City University of New York, and artistic director for St. George’s Choral Society.

Harry Huff became minister of music for Old South Church, Boston, in September 2007, supervising the church’s music program including its multiple choirs, jazz ministry, the Old South Ringers, and concert series. He was also lecturer on ministry at Harvard Divinity School, chapter organist in the Memorial Church, Harvard, as well as associate in the music department and an affiliate of Lowell House of Harvard, as well as artist associate of the St. Botolph Club of Boston.

Harry Lyn Huff is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Don and Beth Stanton, nephews Bruce, Billy, and Wesley, and their families. A memorial service was held at Old South Church, Boston, on November 19. Donations may be made to the Harry L. Huff Memorial Fund, Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116.

Gary Jenkins died September 29, 2016, at the age of 74. He was born in Rockford, Illinois; his parents moved shortly thereafter to Terre Haute, Indiana, then later to Chicago, Illinois, where he spent most of his life. Jenkins served in churches of various denominations, including Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, United Brethren, and United Church of Christ congregations, as well as a synagogue. The churches he served included the First United Methodist Church of Park Ridge, Illinois, and St. Genevieve Catholic Church of Chicago. He also taught at the Park Ridge School for Girls, Park Ridge, Illinois. Jenkins returned to Terre Haute in 2000 to care for his mother. There he served as minister of music for Central Presbyterian Church.

Gary Jenkins is survived by his stepbrother, Patrick O’Malley, of Terre Haute. A memorial service was held October 8 at the Carmelite Monastery of Terre Haute.

Sue Ellen Page Johnson, 67, died November 27, 2016, of brain cancer. She was born June 29, 1949, in Osceola, Iowa, to parents who were church musicians. Johnson earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in music education and sacred music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Princeton, New Jersey, and taught there as an adjunct instructor. She received a specialist diploma from the Orff Institute of the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria. She conducted choral festivals for children and youth and taught teacher training seminars around the United States and abroad. She was well known for her arrangements and compositions for children and youth singers.

From 1982 until 2016 she was director of choirs for children and youth at Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, and was founder in 1989 of the Trenton Children’s Chorus, serving as its artistic director until 2004. Among her awards were a New Jersey Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the distinguished alumni award from Westminster Choir College.

In 1972, she married Eric Johnson, who survives her. Also surviving are her four children: Amanda, Luke, Ben, and Mandy; four brothers: Bill, Richard, Bob, and Dave; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service for Sue Ellen Page Johnson was held December 20 at Nassau Presbyterian Church. Memorial gifts may be made to the Trenton Children’s Chorus (www.trentonchildrenschorus.org) or CASA for Children (www.casaforchildren.org).

Toni Desiree Hines, Donald G. Larson, Robert Eugene Ward, Randel Lynn Wolfe, Zella Mae Woods

Toni Desiree Hines died January 19. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Hines worked in Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia; in the latter city she was organist in residence and program coordinator at the Traverse Arts Project from 2007 to 2011, where she was the driving force of its International LGBT Arts Festival. Hines moved to Kansas City in 2011 to study at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and was appointed the Curdy Organ Scholar at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City, where she worked with the cathedral choirs as conductor, accompanist, and bell ringer. She was a member of the Greater Kansas City AGO chapter. Toni Desiree Hines is survived by several brothers and sisters, and the cathedral community.

Donald G. Larson, age 81, died February 26 in Decatur, Georgia. He received a BA degree in music from the University of Minnesota, and a master’s degree in church music from Northwestern University. Larson served as a chaplain’s assistant in the U.S. Army. For more than 30 years he was a music teacher and counselor at Georgia Perimeter College, where he was named professor emeritus in 1995. Larson also served as minister of music at three Atlanta-area churches, and as a longtime board member of the Atlanta AGO chapter. Donald G. Larson is survived by his wife of more than 61 years, Jacqueline, a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

Robert Eugene Ward died April 3 in Durham, North Carolina, at the age of 95. Ward studied composition with Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music and later with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood. He taught at the Juilliard School, then at Columbia University, and worked as vice president and managing editor of Galaxy Music Corporation. Ward was president of the North Carolina School of the Arts 1967–74, and a professor at Duke University. His opera The Crucible won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1962; he composed many choral works, and Celebrations of God in Nature and The Promised Land for organ.

Randel Lynn Wolfe, age 52, died April 14 in Reading, Pennsylvania. He earned a BMus degree from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, an MSM from Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, and a DMA in choral conducting and organ from the University of Kansas, with postgraduate study at Uppsala University in Sweden. Wolfe served the AGO as dean, and was a member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and Chorus America. He was on the board of the RSCM in America, and had served as an instructor at Alvernia University. Randel Lynn Wolfe is survived by his mother, two brothers, and his longtime partner, David B. Kersley.

Zella Mae Woods died March 6. She was 89. She taught music at Fresno Pacific University for 16 years, and had studied with Richard Purvis at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. She was organist at Fresno First Baptist Church for 33 years, and also played for First Presbyterian, College Community Congregational, Bethel Lutheran, and St. George’s Greek Orthodox churches in Fresno. Woods also was the accompanist for the Fresno Community Chorus, the Fresno Pacific Choral Society, and Fresno Choral Artists. She served the San Joaquin Valley AGO chapter as board member and dean, and as past president of the Fresno Musical Club, the Fresno chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters, and the central district of the California Federation of Music Clubs. Zella Mae Woods is survived by a son, a daughter, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

William Brant Mills, Don G. Campbell, Steven Alan Clark, Rockwell Lewis “Wes” Deaton Jr., Dale Alexander Gilliland, E. Robert Irwin

Nunc Dimittis

William Brant Mills of Florence, South Carolina, died on February 18 at the age of 68. A diaconal minister in the United Methodist Church, Mills had served as director of music and organist at Central United Methodist Church in Florence for over 42 years. 

Mills earned degrees in organ performance—a Bachelor of Music from Florida State University, and a Master of Music from the University of South Carolina. He also did post-graduate study at Indiana University, Southern Methodist University, Stanford University, and Columbia College. Mills was founder and director of the Masterworks Choir in Florence, which toured Austria and Germany, participated in the Piccolo Spoleto festival, and sang services at Washington National Cathedral. The Masterworks Choir also sang choral works of Robert Powell at Christ Episcopal Church in Greenville, South Carolina, when Powell retired. William Brant Mills is survived by his children, Brantley Rees Mills and Susan Mills Rana, and four grandchildren.

Don G. Campbell, age 65, died June 2 in Boulder, Colorado. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Campbell studied at the Fontainebleau Conservatory in France, and earned two degrees at the University of North Texas. He was the author of 23 books, including the bestsellers The Mozart Effect and The Mozart Effect for Children; his most recent book, released in 2011, was Healing at the Speed of Sound, co-authored with Alex Doman. Campbell founded the Institute of Music, Health, and Education in Boulder in 1988, serving as its director until 1997. He also was involved with Aesthetic Audio Systems, which worked with hospitals and health care systems to provide music systems to optimize healing. Campbell was a member of the Denver AGO chapter, for which he served on the executive board.

The American Music Research Center at the University of Colorado is creating the Don Campbell Collection to house his books, videos, DVDs, and documents, including source material for several of Campbell’s most popular works. The collection will also include private letters from Nadia Boulanger, Campbell’s teacher. 

Steven Alan Clark died July 14 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 60 years old. He began organ study at age eleven, and earned a bachelor’s degree in organ and a master’s in choral conducting at the University of Tennessee. Clark served as organist-choirmaster at six churches in Tennessee and Florida, and served in a number of leadership roles in the AGO. He was also a licensed massage therapist. Steven Alan Clark is survived by his wife, Donna, two daughters, two grandchildren, his father, four siblings, a sister-in-law and two brothers-in-law, and seven nephews. 

Rockwell Lewis “Wes” Deaton Jr. died in Davidson, North Carolina on July 26 at age 59. He was organist at Davidson Methodist Church and earned a bachelor’s degree in music in 1974, studying organ with Wilmer Hayden Welsh. He earned a master’s degree from the Peabody Conservatory in 1976, where his major teachers were Cherry Rhodes and Donald Sutherland. Deaton moved to New York City in 1976 and studied with Calvin Hampton, and played for churches in the New York area, including St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Woodhaven, New York, and Church of the Transfiguration. Deaton’s advertising career took him around the world; he served as senior vice president at Publicis New York, among other positions that he held. In 2000, Deaton returned to Davidson, where he established a marketing company and became involved in local organizations. There he served in substitute and interim organist positions. Rockwell Lewis Deaton Jr. is survived by his partner Robert Guttman, two children, two grandchildren, in-laws, and cousins.

Dale Alexander Gilliland, age 79, died June 28 in Bellevue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began organ studies at age twelve and started his 63-year career as a church organist at Knoxville Baptist Church in Pittsburgh in 1949. During the Korean War, Gilliland served as a chaplain’s assistant and organist at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; following military service, he served various churches. Gilliland served as treasurer of the Pittsburgh AGO chapter and was on the 1999 AGO Region III convention committee, was past president and treasurer of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, and a committee member of the Pittsburgh Organ Academy. Dale Alexander Gilliland is survived by Elizabeth Douglas Gilliland, three daughters, and two grandsons. 

E. Robert Irwin died July 28 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was 73 years old. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Irwin studied organ at the Oberlin Conservatory, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1961. He earned a doctorate in organ and sacred music from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Craighead. Irwin was a professor of music at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where he taught organ, music history and theory, and organ literature for 24 years and established a program in church music. He was honored twice by the university as teacher of the year. During retirement, he served as a church musician in Michigan, Virginia, and North Carolina. E. Robert Irwin is survived by his wife, Claudette Smith-Irwin, two sons, a daughter, a brother, and five grandchildren.

Royston John Merritt Jr. died on July 7 at the age of 84 in Matthews, North Carolina. After serving in the U.S. Army, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia and worked at DuPont, Reigle Paper, and First Union Bank. He also enjoyed a 53-year career as organist and choirmaster, serving numerous churches, the last of which was Central Steele Creek Presbyterian. Merritt was active in the Charlotte Oratorio Singers and the Charlotte AGO chapter, the North Carolina Train Host Association, and at the Plantation Estates Retirement Community where he resided. Royston John Merritt Jr. is survived by his wife of 61 years, Jean, three children, ten grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Thomas H. Schleis died July 19 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. He was 62. Schleis studied piano, organ, and harpsichord at Lawrence University and received a master’s degree in musicology at the University of Wisconsin. He was also a Fulbright scholar, conducting research in Germany. An adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois since 1981, Schleis taught music history and performance, and served as head coach of the opera department. He received the Excellence in Teaching and Faculty Service Award from the university continuing education association, and served as organist at the campus’s Newman Center for 33 years. Schleis was dean of the East Central Illinois AGO chapter for 15 years. Thomas H. Schleis is survived by a sister, a stepsister, and two stepbrothers.