Nunc Dimittis

William Ernest Baker died August 31, 2007 in Tucson, Arizona. Born in 1938 in Denver, he had enlisted in the United States Air Force as an in-flight computer technician. During this time, he studied organ at the University of the Pacific, and later studied at the University of Colorado. While in Denver, he worked with Fred H. Meunier & Associates. Mr. Baker’s early work took place in California and Nevada; in 1963, he rebuilt the 1877 Johnson organ at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Sacramento. He relocated to New York City in 1968, serving as organist-choirmaster at St. Savior’s Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, where he further rebuilt and enlarged the 1911 Reuben Midmer & Sons organ. He eventually settled in Hatfield, Massachusetts, living on the top floor of the wooden-frame building that housed his shop. Mr. Baker would take on difficult projects, such as improving the actions for the slider windchests at St. Thomas Church in New York, and restoring the high-pressure Solo chests of the Skinner organ at Mt. Holyoke College following water damage. Upon retirement, Mr. Baker moved to Mexico. His remains were inurned October 29 at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver.

William Dinneen died July 26, 2007 in Greenville, Rhode Island. He was 91. Mr. Dinneen, a graduate of Harvard University, served as organist for over 60 years, including positions at the chapel of Brown University (where he taught) and First Baptist Church in America, both in Providence. He also directed the University Glee Club and the Rhode Island Civic Chorale, and served as keyboardist for the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and as music critic for The Providence Journal. A member of the Rhode Island AGO chapter, he served as dean in the 1950s, was a recitalist and accompanist for many Guild programs, and for years offered Sunday afternoon coaching sessions for groups of organists. He was awarded the chapter’s Anna Fiore-Smith Award in 2005. He is survived by Frances, his wife of 64 years, two sons, and two grandsons.

Noel E. Heinze, of Riceville, North Carolina, died on December 14, 2007, of a massive heart attack. He was 67. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he graduated from Michigan State University with a master’s degree in English and music. During the Viet Nam War, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Adj. Corps. He worked in contact administration with various firms in Washington, D.C., and most recently with Palmer, Wahl in Weaverville.
He began playing the organ in church at age 11, while attending Cranbrook Academy in Michigan. He served as an organist while in the Army, and held church positions in Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York, before moving to North Carolina. Most recently he served as organist at St. Giles Chapel, Deerfield Retirement Community in Asheville. A member of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society, he performed in concerts with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as well as at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Noel Heinze is survived by his wife of 37 years, Kathryn Heinze, a daughter, a sister, and many nieces and nephews.

Herbert A. Severtsen died at age 77 on October 1, 2007, in Spokane, Washington. Born March 4, 1930, he attended the New York Institute for Blind and Bard College, and received a master’s degree and professional diploma in music from Columbia University. He met his wife when she joined the choir at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in New York City, where he was organist-choirmaster for 25 years. In Spokane, he was employed by the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and the Unitarian Universalist Church, and by Davis & Hosch Music. He served as dean of the Spokane AGO chapter 1978–80 and was awarded a lifetime membership in 2004. He is survived by Billie Marie, his wife of 41 years, five children, and two grandchildren.

Craig Smith died November 14, 2007 in Boston. He was 60 years old. He was the founder and artistic director of Emmanuel Music, the resident ensemble at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston. Over the years he built Emmanuel into a major musical center that presented works of Schütz, Handel, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, and contemporary composers, especially John Harbison. Between 1970–77, Smith conducted the complete cycle of Bach cantatas, the first time all these works had been performed in America. Mr. Smith studied at Washington State University and the New England Conservatory. He collaborated with the stage director Peter Sellars on Mozart and Handel operas, and works by Bach, Weill, Gershwin, and Gilbert and Sullivan; the productions were seen in both American and European venues, and on DVD. Mr. Smith was principal conductor of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels from 1988–91 and had taught at the Juilliard School, MIT, the New England Conservatory, Pepperdine University, and the Tanglewood Music Center.

James Gary Stuart, age 72 and formerly of Lake Bluff, Illinois and Santa Fe, New Mexico, died on January 17, from complications due to cancer. He was preceded in death by his wife Nancy Anderson Stuart, an accomplished singer and music teacher, in 2006. Gary is survived by a sister, a brother, nieces, a grandniece, and a grandnephew. Born on January 28, 1935 in Jacksonville, Illinois, he earned B.Mus. and M.M. degrees from Northwestern University and began a career as a church organist-choirmaster for several churches on the North Shore of Chicago, including St. James the Less (Episcopal) in Northfield, and Church of the Holy Spirit (Episcopal) in Lake Forest, before beginning a music ministry at the Church of the Holy Comforter (Episcopal) in Kenilworth in 1990.
Gary married Nancy Elizabeth Stuart on March 29, 1970 in Lake Forest, Illinois. Together Nancy and Gary spent a lifetime devoted “first and foremost” to church and choral music. In addition to private teaching, he had also served as accompanist for the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the North Shore Choral Society, and the Lake Forest Camerata Singers. Mr. Stuart led two singing tours to England and was the visiting accompanist for a third. He retired as director of music at the Church of the Holy Comforter in Kenilworth in 2002 after establishing a music ministry of quality music and an Evensong series that included performances of Requiem settings by Duruflé, Fauré, and Rutter, and Masses by Gounod and Schubert. A celebration of the Holy Eucharist in thanksgiving for his life was celebrated at the Church of the Holy Comforter on January 23. A choir composed of current and former choir members and colleagues led by current music director Derek E. Nickels sang anthems by Lutkin, Mozart, and Vaughan Williams. The family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society, 820 Davis Street, Evanston, IL 60201.
—Derek E. Nickels

Susanne L. Taylor died September 10, 2007, in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the age of 89. A graduate of Smith College, Mrs. Taylor also attended the College of Charleston. She served as assistant organist at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Charleston, and in Mount Pleasant served as organist at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and Christ Episcopal Church, and as junior choir director at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. She also spearheaded the restoration of the Henry Erben organ at the Huguenot Church in Charleston. A member of the Charleston AGO chapter, Mrs. Taylor served as dean from 1965–67. Preceded in death by her husband, Francis Bergh Taylor, she is survived by her four children and eight grandchildren.

Noel Goemanne, Catholic Church musician and composer, died January 12 in Dallas. He was 83. Born in 1926 in Poperinge, Belgium, Goemanne was a graduate of the Lemmens Institute of Belgium, and studied organ and improvisation with Flor Peeters, and at the Royal Conservatory of Liege. During World War II, he refused an offer from the Nazis to become a composer for the Third Reich; he was later arrested for playing the music of Mendelssohn during the Nazi occupation of Belgium.
In 1952 he and his wife Janine immigrated to the United States, settling in Victoria, Texas, where he was organist at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. In response to the liturgical changes brought about in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, he composed the first Vatican II-approved Masses in English. During that time he gave sacred music workshops on college campuses; he also established the sacred music program at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Indiana.
Goemanne held organist and choirmaster positions in the Detroit area, at St. Rita’s Catholic Church and Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, and in Dallas, at St. Monica’s Catholic Church, Holy Trinity Seminary, and Christ the King Church, where he served from 1972 until this past summer.
His compositional output includes over 200 sacred compositions, with over 20 Masses. His organ work Trilogy for Dallas was the first work commissioned for the Lay Family Organ at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.
Goemanne’s many honors include an award from the Institute of Sacred Music in Manila, Philippines in 1974; the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross from Pope Paul VI in 1977; honorary doctorates from St. Joseph College in Rensselaer in 1980 and Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan in 1999; and numerous ASCAP awards. Goemanne was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the American Guild of Organists, the American Choral Directors Association, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. He is survived by his wife Janine, daughter Claire Page and husband Mike, son Luc and wife Candy, and three grandchildren.

John B. Haney, longtime Canon Organist and Choirmaster of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Columbia, South Carolina, died February 13 at age 77. Born in Illinois, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ from the University of Illinois, and received the Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
In 1970 he moved to Columbia, South Carolina, to become organist and choirmaster at what was then Trinity Episcopal Church, where he served for the next 33 years. Prior to that, he held positions at Reveille United Methodist Church, Richmond, Virginia; Central Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey; and Temple Emanu-El, New York City.
While at Trinity, he began the cathedral choir’s periodic residencies at English cathedrals and developed the Wednesdays at Trinity concert series. Haney was a member of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Anglican Musicians.

John Wright Harvey died December 31, 2009. “Organ—my hobby, my work, my play, my vocation, my recreation. Recital work a specialty.” So wrote Professor Harvey on a faculty information sheet dated October 26, 1961. He went on to list “Carillon—(and bells of all sorts)—a lifelong interest.” These dual interests defined John’s 24 years as professor of music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a career which began in September 1960, and ended with his retirement in June 1984. In 1962 the UW Memorial Carillon received 27 new bells and two claviers, enlarging it to a total of 51 bells. On February 2, 3, and 4, 1970, John gave identical recitals initiating the Austin Organ Company’s Opus 2498 in the University’s Eastman Recital Hall. John taught organ and carillon to students from freshman level to doctoral candidates. Announcements of his carillon recitals appeared regularly and often.
John Harvey was born in Marion, Indiana, on June 15, 1919. He began piano study at age 8, trombone at age 14, and organ at 15. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree in organ from Oberlin Conservatory in 1941. The degree was awarded in absentia since John was by then stationed aboard a destroyer participating in the Battle of Midway. While in the Navy, John served as a musician, a signalman, and a quartermaster. He survived the loss of the USS Atlanta, sunk off Guadalcanal in November 1942. Following the war, John received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Oberlin in 1946 and a master’s degree from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in 1952. His master’s thesis was on the history and development of the organ in the chapel at West Point. Before coming to Madison, he served the First Presbyterian Church in Englewood, New Jersey; Webb Horton Memorial Presbyterian Church in Middletown, New York; Central Union Church in Honolulu, and National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C.
Beginning in 1947, John was active in the American Guild of Organists. In 1952 he organized the Northern Valley chapter in Englewood, serving as dean for its first three years and scholarship chairman for two years. In 1958 he was secretary of the Washington, D.C. chapter. In Madison he was dean of the AGO chapter from 1964–66. In 1953–56 John contributed to The American Organist, including a three-issue story on the West Point organ.
In Madison and beyond the university, John was active as well. He was organist at First Congregational Church. He also served as organ consultant and advisor to many congregations, including St. John’s Lutheran, Luther Memorial, Bethany Methodist, and Mt. Olive Lutheran. He was particularly involved with the design of the Austin organ at First United Methodist. An instrument of interest was the Hinners organ at St. Mary’s in Pine Bluff. John gave recitals statewide, in venues large and small, including several on the Casavant organ at St. Norbert’s Abbey in DePere.
John Harvey’s interests extended well beyond music. Pictures of Clarissa, his 1932 Chevy roadster, appeared in the newspaper, as did pictures of his model railroad. He also collected disc recordings from the early 1900s.
John married Jean Cochran on May 25, 1945, and was the father of three daughters, Ann, Carol, and Jane. John suffered from Alzheimer’s and died on December 31, 2009. Survivors include his wife, Jean, his daughters, and a brother.
—John R. Krueger
Madison, Wisconsin

August “Ed” Linzel, Jr., died January 19 in Arlington, Texas, at the age of 84. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, he attended the Princeton School of Music, and served as organist and choirmaster at St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church in New York City for 16 years. He was active in the American Guild of Organists, performing as organist, harpsichordist, and conductor at national (1948, 1950, 1952) and regional conventions. Linzel also served as dean of the New York City AGO chapter from 1956–59. In 1964 he served as organist-choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in 1972 he served in that same capacity at St. Boniface Episcopal Church in Sarasota, Florida. He later returned to Little Rock, where he was organist at Pulaski Heights Presbyterian Church, Christ Episcopal Church, and First Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Arkansas. August Linzel, Jr. is survived by his sons Ted and John, daughters Patricia and Jennifer, and brothers Milton and Jesse.

William Bernard MacGowan, concert organist, choir director, and college professor, died December 15, 2009 in Gainesville, Florida. He began organ study with Nelson Brett in Jacksonville, and during the 1940s studied organ with Robert Baker and piano with Percy Grainger at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Palmer Christian, Robert Noehren, and Maynard Klein. A naval communications officer during the Korean War, MacGowan established choirs and singing groups on the ships where he served. When in port, he studied choral conducting with Robert Shaw and musicology with Julius Herford.
His many positions included those at St. Philip’s Church in Durham, North Carolina; Old North Church in Boston, Maple Street Congregational Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, and the Tanglewood Music Center, in Massachusetts; All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California; and Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in High Springs, and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Gainesville, in Florida. As a recitalist, he performed at important venues in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and in Assisi, Italy, and in Germany. MacGowan was a member of the American Guild of Organists, Society of St. Hubert, Phi Gamma Delta, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia; his hobbies included scuba diving and snorkeling.
William Bernard MacGowan is survived by brothers Bradford and John and their wives, two nephews, and two nieces.

Richard Thornton White died on December 8, 2009, in Memphis, Tennessee, in his home across the street from St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he served for 36 years. He was 95. His first organ study was with Adolph Steuterman; in 1935, he was awarded the William C. Carl Scholarship to the Guilmant Organ School in New York City. In 1937, he won a gold medal in performance from that school. The Diapason (July 1, 1937), in reporting the event, noted that “Guilmant graduates have built up an enviable reputation for brilliancy, interpretative power, and poise in their playing, and the class of this year sustained that reputation.” White also studied with Frank Wright and Frederick Schlieder. He held organist-choirmaster positions in New York City and New Jersey, served in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific during World War II, and in 1950 returned to Memphis to serve at St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he led the music program until his retirement in 1986. White was also active in the Sewanee Church Music Conference, which he served as a faculty member and secretary/registrar.
He earned Associate (1938) and Fellow (1940) certifications with the American Guild of Organists, of which he was a member for 74 years, serving the Memphis chapter as dean several times, and also as chapter examination coordinator.
Richard Thornton White is survived by his wife Anna, whom he married in 1938, sons Richard White, Albert White and his wife Betsy, two grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.

William Robert “Bob” Brittenham died March 17 in New York City. He was 82. Born in Rock Island, Illinois, he graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island, and earned a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1952. He worked as a computer programmer in Milwaukee and later for IBM in Poughkeepsie, where he received numerous awards, including a corporate award for creating and designing the system programming language PL/S.
Mr. Brittenham began playing the organ at age 14, and held positions at Capitol Drive Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Our Savior Lutheran Church in Fishkill, New York, and First Presbyterian Church in Poughkeepsie, New York, for which he compiled a ten-CD musical history, along with other organ and choral recordings. He served in the 33rd Seabee Battalion in the South Pacific during World War II, playing the organ for church services while on the island of Peleliu. He is survived by his wife Marjorie Lorraine, five children, nine grandchildren, brother Rex Rollins Brittenham, and nieces and nephews.

Mary Sherman Caskey died on March 20 at the age of 83, in Cornwall, New York. Born in Fremont, Ohio, she received a music degree from Oberlin College, and also attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where she studied organ with her friend and mentor Claire Coci.
Mrs. Caskey served as organist at Bantam Episcopal Church in Bantam, Connecticut, Moulton Memorial Baptist Church in Newburgh, New York, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cornwall, and at Grace Episcopal Church in Middletown, New York for 30 years, where she created the Festival Brass Group, with whom she presented a concert at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. She was active in local organizations, including with Meals on Wheels and the local AGO chapter. Mary Caskey is survived by her son Jeremy Carroll, his wife Anne, and son Tyler.

Bess Hieronymus, 85 years old, died March 22 in San Antonio, Texas. Professor emerita in the University of Texas at San Antonio Department of Music, she had developed and spearheaded the organ studies program there.
Born in Temple, Texas, she began playing piano at age three and had her first organist position at age twelve. She earned a bachelor of music degree in piano from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in humanities in 1995, and a master’s degree in music from Smith College, where she wrote her thesis under the direction of Alfred Einstein. She earned a DMA in organ performance and musicology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Hieronymus served on the faculty of Trinity University, San Antonio College, and for over 30 years at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the first woman to be appointed full professor there. She built a nationally known organ department and supervised the installation of the 1982 Casavant organ, named the Bess Hieronymus Pipe Organ in 2004, in the school’s Recital Hall. The Bess Hieronymus Scholarship Endowment in Organ and an eponymous faculty endowment were established in her honor. Dr. Hieronymus also organized the William Hall Pipe Organ Competition in San Antonio.
She concertized in many countries and served as organist-choir director at Madison Square Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Alamo Heights Methodist Church, Temple Beth-El, and at the First Presbyterian Church, where she served for over 27 years and was named organist emerita. Her numerous awards include the Yellow Rose of Texas Education Award, and a resolution from the Texas House of Representatives for her musical contributions to the State of Texas. Bess Hieronymus was preceded in death by her parents and older brother.

David Ramsey died January 17 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 68 years old. He made his debut as an organist at age nine, at Woodbine Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Nashville. He received a bachelor of music degree in 1961 from Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), and a master of sacred music degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, studying with Vernon deTar and Alec Wyton. He joined the faculty of Rhodes College as accompanist and associate conductor of the college choir, and was named Distinguished Service Professor of Music in 2001. He served as director of music-organist at Holy Communion (Episcopal), St. John’s United Methodist, and First Presbyterian churches in Memphis.
A 50-year member of the AGO, he served as dean of the Memphis chapter five times. A skilled improviser, Mr. Ramsey also played for the local professional baseball team, often quoting hymns during his playing if he knew a church group was in attendance. David Ramsey is survived by his sister Gayla Sutton, brother-in-law Barry Sutton, nephew Eric, and aunt, Charlene Turner.

Rev. Dr. Jaroslav J. Vajda, composer, hymn writer, and musician, died on May 10. A Lutheran pastor, Rev. Vajda was named editor of Concordia Publishing House’s This Day magazine in 1963, and served Concordia as book developer and editor from 1971 until his retirement in 1986. Vajda was the author of over 200 hymn texts, including “Now the Silence,” “God of the Sparrow,” “Christ Goes Before,” “Go, My Children, with My Blessing,” and “Now the Silence.” He also made effective translations from Slavic languages. His hymns and translations can be found in nearly 50 hymnals of various Christian denominations worldwide. Pastor Vajda was named a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. The complete collection of his hymns, Sing Peace, Sing Gift of Peace, was published in 2003. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Louise, two daughters and two sons, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Margaret T. “Meg” Flowers died April 30, at the age of 71, in Houston. She earned a BA from Vassar College in 1960, and MMus and DMA degrees from Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, in 1990 and 2004. She served as organist, choirmaster, and music director at several Episcopal parishes in Houston, and at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, retiring in January 2010. She held memberships in the Association of Anglican Musicians and the AGO, and served as dean of the Houston AGO chapter and chair of the Diocesan Music Commission. Meg Flowers is survived by her husband, David C. Flowers, three daughters and their husbands, Jennifer and Lyman Paden, Rebecca and Brian Oxley, and Elizabeth and Michael Murray, stepdaughters Kay Flowers and Karen Stephen and her husband Denny, sister Frances Pearson, brothers Bill and Walker Taylor, and five grandchildren.

Yvonne Loriod died May 17 in Saint-Denis, France, at the age of 86. The French pianist was for three decades the wife of Olivier Messiaen, and the chief interpreter of his piano works, as well as a champion of the piano works of Pierre Boulez, Jean Barraqué, André Jolivet, and Arnold Schoenberg. A student at the Paris Conservatoire, Loriod had learned the major piano repertoire by the age of 14. At the Conservatoire, she studied piano with Lazare-Lévy, and harmony with André Bloch; when the Nazis deported them during the French occupation, Loriod resumed piano study with Marcel Ciampi and harmony with Messiaen, who had recently returned from a prison camp. Messiaen wrote the two-piano work Visions de l’Amen with Loriod in mind.
As a concert pianist, she was known for her performances of contemporary repertoire. After teaching at the Staat-
liche Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, she was appointed piano professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1967, where she taught for a quarter of a century. Loriod married Messiaen in 1961; she served as his proofreader, musical assistant, manager, and interpreter until his death in 1992. Yvonne Loriod is survived by her sister Jacqueline and her stepson Pascal.

Kathleen Funk Pearson, age 93, died March 22 in Fort Myers, Florida. Born in Philadelphia, she graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory, and did graduate study at the Eastman School of Music, where she was a student of Harold Gleason. She joined the music department at Vassar College and served as assistant college organist and Vassar College Choir accompanist there, and from 1957–1988 as chapel organist. She also served as organist at the First Presbyterian Church, and as organist and choir director at Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie. A visiting professor at SUNY–New Paltz, she was chapel organist for the Harvard Divinity School, and for twelve years organist for the Danforth Foundation summer conferences.
With her husband, Donald M. Pearson, she co-founded the Central Hudson Valley AGO chapter, for which she served as dean, and which recognized her in 2008 for her lifelong contribution and dedication to promoting excellence in organ performance and choral music. They moved to Florida in 1988, where she served St. John’s Episcopal Church in Naples, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers, Sanibel Congregational Church, and Chapel of the Sea on Captiva Island, and founded the 65-voice Shell Point Singers. Following Donald Pearson’s death in 2004, she created an organ recital fund in his memory, for performances at Vassar College; the fund has now been renamed the Donald and Kathleen Pearson Organ Recital Fund.

William Louis Shepard died July 15. For the last six years he held the position of organist and choirmaster at the First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Illinois. He earned his master’s degree in church music from Northwestern University and his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College. Shepard taught piano, organ, and voice in academic settings as well as privately. He held positions as organist, choral director, handbell director, and children’s choir director at numerous churches in the metropolitan Chicago area as well as the Hot Springs, Arkansas area.
Born July 9, 1949, in Geneva, Illinois, he and his two sisters formed a string trio at a young age. During their early school years in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, the trio was awarded first place in several Illinois ensemble competitions. In 1984 Shepard moved to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. Upon his return to Mount Prospect, Illinois, in 2002, the trio continued to perform.
Shepard was the winner of a student competition of the Chicago AGO chapter, and maintained his membership in the Chicago chapter. For eight years he was the regular organist for the Chicago Sunday Evening Club, broadcast on Channel 11 (WTTW). He also operated his own antique clock repair business. William Shepard is survived by his mother, three sisters, and five nieces and nephews.
Eugene Szonntagh died May 8 in Sarasota, Florida. He was 85. Born July 31, 1924, in Budapest, he immigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1956 to escape the communist occupation of Hungary. He held degrees in both the arts and sciences and worked as a research scientist, for Leeds & Northrup Co. in Philadelphia, and for Honeywell. A holder of 29 U.S. patents, he had published over 100 technical articles in the field of chemical engineering. Szonntagh served as organist at several Philadelphia churches, and as dean of the Philadelphia AGO chapter. He composed over 100 organ and choral works, and performed as a recitalist and choral director both in the United States and in Hungary.
In 1982 he and his wife moved to Florida, where he served at churches in St. Petersburg, and as dean of the St. Petersburg AGO chapter. Later, in Sarasota, he served on the board of the Sarasota-Manatee chapter, and as musician at St. Wilfred’s Episcopal Church. Eugene Szonntagh is survived by his wife of 59 years, Nora, sons Desi and Tom, granddaughters Erika and Tiffany, and grandson Andrew.

Dona Lee Brandon died June 16 in Davis, California. She was 81. She began organ study while in high school and earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Park College in Missouri, and a master of sacred music degree from Union Theological Seminary, where she studied organ with Robert Baker. At UTS she met fellow student George Brandon, and married him in 1954. The Brandons taught at Eureka College in Illinois, and William Penn College in Iowa. In 1962 they moved to Davis, California, where Mrs. Brandon worked as an organist and choir director, serving at Davis Community Church (1963–67) and at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church (from 1967 until her retirement in 1995). She was also affiliated with the Music School at the University of California–Davis, accompanying choral groups, teaching organ, and playing recitals and for commencement ceremonies. A longtime member of the Sacramento AGO chapter, she proclaimed her enthusiasm for the music of Bach with her license plate, “JSB FAN.” Dona Lee Brandon was preceded in death by her husband George, and is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Jim, and her sister Melva Ann.

Richard W. Litterst died August 9 at age 83 in Loves Park, Illinois. Born in Decatur, Illinois, February 4, 1926, he attended the University of Louisville, served in the U.S. Navy, and then completed his studies at the University of Illinois and Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music. He served as organist, choirmaster, and handbell director at churches in Westfield, New Jersey; Omaha, Nebraska; and Rockford and Freeport, Illinois. In 1959, he was appointed to Second Congregational Church, Rockford. He also conducted the Rockford Pops Orchestra for more than 30 years, and taught at Rockford College, Rock Valley College, and Beloit College.
Litterst served as dean of the Rockford AGO chapter and was a member of the Mendelssohn Club and Rotary. He was an early member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, serving the organization in many capacities, including as president. He was nationally known as a handbell director and for his arrangements and compositions for handbells. Most recently he served as organist for the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Rockford, playing his last service there on July 22.
A memorial service was held August 14 at First Presbyterian Church, Rockford, with a number of organists from the Rockford AGO and the Rockford Pipe Band participating, with alumni of the Martin Ringers of Second Congregational Church playing music by Litterst; other music in the service was by Karg-Elert, Franck, and Widor. Richard W. Litterst is survived by his wife Judy, son, two daughters, and grandson.

Ivan Ronald Olson died June 16 in Sacramento, California. Born in Soldier, Iowa, on March 15, 1928, he played his first church service while in the sixth grade and then took over as organist after confirmation on through high school until he left for college in 1946. He received a BA in music from the University of Iowa in 1950 and taught music at Morehead, Iowa, where he served as choir director at Bethesda Lutheran Church. He then earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas, Austin, and began teaching at Concordia Lutheran College of Austin in 1952, where he continued until 1964. During that tenure he served as organist-choirmaster at First English Lutheran Church and Redeemer Lutheran Church in Austin. He married Danna Foster in July 1956.
Olson took a leave of absence from Concordia to study at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he was awarded a Doctor of Sacred Music degree in 1963. In 1964 he joined the faculty at American River College, Sacramento, California, and became the organist-choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. He also served as accompanist for many vocal recitals.
Olson moved to Fair Oaks in the summer of 1967 and joined the staff at Pioneer Congregational Church in 1969. He was an active member of the American Guild of Organists and served as dean of the Sacramento chapter. He retired in 1992 from American River College and Pioneer Congregational Church, and then served as interim organist-choirmaster at St. John’s Lutheran Church, where he had been a member since 1967. At St. John’s he worked in adult education, served on the church council, and looked after the concert series for three seasons. He did substitute organist work until grandchildren began to arrive. Ivan Olson belonged to the Rose Society and spent many happy hours tending his many roses and a vegetable garden.

Theodore W. Ripper died on July 2 at age 83. Born on August 1, 1925 in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He served as university organist at the University of South Dakota and then taught at Carnegie Mellon University from 1949 to 1955. He married Gladys McMillan on June 15, 1953 in Coraopolis. They moved to Atlanta in 1955, where he was minister of music for Peachtree Christian Church for 10 years.
Ripper then taught at Millikin University and served at First United Methodist Church in Decatur, Illinois, 1965–75, and was director of music at Grace United Methodist Church in Venice, Florida, 1975–84. He next served as director of music at First United Methodist Church, Carlsbad, New Mexico, for eight years. After retirement, he continued to work in Roswell as music director for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

Mark P. Schantz died at age 58 on June 13 at his home in Walton Hills, Ohio. The son of Bruce and Grace Putnam Schantz of Orrville, Ohio, he was a graduate of Otterbein College and had a lengthy career with American Greetings of Cleveland, from which he took early retirement to start his own business, Schantz Woods, which designed, fabricated, and restored furniture. He also served on the board of directors of the Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, assisting his brother Victor, the president of the firm. Mark P. Schantz is survived by his wife Lee, children Kate, Jessa, Erick, and John, and siblings Ann Schantz Perlmutter, Victor Schantz, Jill Schantz Frank, Ted Schantz, and Peter Schantz.