Nunc dimittis: John J. Binsfield, III

Richard French Davidson

Richard French Davidson, 80, died July 13 in Brick, New Jersey. Born June 18, 1942, and raised in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, he was active in the liturgical music of the Episcopal Church from an early age, serving as a chorister at his home parish of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Montclair, New Jersey, as well as seasonally at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City under the direction of Norman Coke-Jephcott.

Davidson graduated from Wagner College, Staten Island, New York, in 1964, earning a degree in clinical psychology while pursuing parallel studies in computer programming. He maintained a full-time career in data management with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Continuing his involvement with the musical and liturgical life of the Episcopal Church, Davidson began in the late 1970s to be retained by churches and other institutions as a consultant on organ design and installations, both pipe and electronic, the latter being an area where he applied his postgraduate study and knowledge of psychoacoustics (the relationship between sound and its reception/interpretation by the human ear and mind) to the custom design of loudspeakers for organ installations. He expanded this business beyond the organ trade to the commercial design of loudspeakers for home stereo equipment in the high-end audiophile market, earning several awards and citations by trade groups and audiophile societies.

After leaving Chase, he assembled his various business pursuits under the umbrella of his own company, establishing Innovative Techniques Corporation (ITC) in Herbertsville, New Jersey, in 1980. In that decade, with his work as a consultant increasingly focused on pipe organ projects, he began studying pipe organ tuning and maintenance with organ builder Donald Davett in Hartford, Connecticut, pipe voicing with Gilbert Adams and Hans Schmidt, and tonal finishing with Ronald Thayer.

Having developed a regular pipe organ tuning and maintenance clientele in central New Jersey, Davidson began to design and build new pipe organs under the ITC nameplate after relocating the firm to Jackson, New Jersey, in 1992, where he expanded his facilities to include a complete organ shop, entering into partnership with Edward Hillis, formerly of Gress-Miles. During the 1990s the firm designed six new instruments, ranging from seven to 32 ranks, and rebuilt and revoiced several others in the New York and New Jersey area. In his approach to tonal design, Davidson would often cite “Father” Henry Willis, Ernest Skinner, and Cuthbert Harrison as his greatest influences.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s Davidson’s focus returned to electronic instruments, working first with Makin and later with Phoenix, designing compact and portable tone cabinets, their size facilitating ease of transport as well as placement and configuration during installation. During this period he also tonally finished instruments employing the customizable Hauptwerk system in several New Jersey churches. Davidson closed the ITC pipe organ shop in 2008 but continued to tune and maintain pipe organs through 2015. Davidson was in demand as a bass chorister, singing regularly at numerous Episcopal and Methodist churches in New Jersey, as well as Rutgers University, the annual choir festival in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, and various community choruses.

Richard Davidson was predeceased in 1994 by his wife of 29 years, Ethel Burkey Davidson, an organist and fellow Episcopal Church chorister, who often served as demonstration organist on recordings of his instruments. Both were active members of the Monmouth County and Ocean County, New Jersey, chapters of the American Guild of Organists. The Davidsons were well known for their gracious hospitality, and their home was often a salon for singers and musicians. In his last years, as a widower and retiree, Davidson became a founding member of Franciscan Servants of God’s Grace, a group dedicated to caring for and ministering to elderly and infirm individuals in hospitals and nursing homes, many of whom had no other surviving families to care for their needs, and continued this charitable activity until just a few weeks before his death.

Richard French Davidson is survived by two brothers, Penn and John, a nephew Chris, and a niece Karen. Funeral services were held August 27 at Trinity Episcopal Church Red Bank, New Jersey, with burial in the parish churchyard.

Foster H. Diehl

Foster H. Diehl, 84, died August 26. He was born in Elmira, New York, and demonstrated a natural gift for sound and music in primary school, taking music lessons until he left for college. He held his first organist position at the age of 14 for a small country church outside Utica, New York.

Diehl was a resident student at the Royal School of Church Music in Addington Palace from 1958 until 1961 and was a graduate of Trinity College of Music, London, UK. In 1958 he received his A.R.C.M. diploma in organ performance from the Royal College of Music and won the highest marks awarded that year. He also held an L. Mus. degree with a major in organ and a minor in church music. In 1961 he earned a fellowship (F.T.C.L.) in organ with a minor in Gregorian chant.

Upon completion of his studies in England, Diehl returned to the United States where he was appointed organist and choirmaster at St. Joseph Catholic Church, West New York, New Jersey. He was married shortly thereafter to his British fiancée, Clare Harwood, an accomplished pianist. In 1964, at the age of 26, he was appointed organist for the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Chicago, Illinois, and subsequently assumed the position of choirmaster, leading both the men’s and boy’s choirs, and further served as director of music for Cathedral High School. In 1975 he was appointed organist and choirmaster of St. Petronille Catholic Church, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In his later years he relocated to Florida and held two more positions, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Largo, and later at Highland Presbyterian in Clearwater, where he finally retired at the age of 75.

Foster H. Diehl is survived by his daughters Renee and Erika, grandsons Cody and Cameron, great-granddaughter Morgan, and sister Donna. He was buried at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Cemetery, Royal Palm Beach, Florida.

Benjamin Goddard Mague

Benjamin Goddard Mague, 74, former president of Andover Organ Company, died July 4. He was born May 17, 1948, in Machias, Maine. His parents were Westminster Choir College graduates who, before settling in Maine, served as joint music directors at Plymouth Congregational Church, New Haven, Connecticut. Mague attended Mt. Hermon School and then Colby College, where he built his first organ as an interterm project. He received a Master

of Music degree in organ from the University of Wisconsin, where he also did a survey of contemporary North American tracker organ builders. A 4-1⁄2-year stint in the United States Navy as a Chaplain’s Yeoman found him in Cuba connecting with the chaplain’s daughter, Kathy, with whom he was married for 48 years.

Mague’s lifelong career was at the Andover Organ Company, where he started in 1975 and remained for 47 years, retiring in April 2022. He worked successively as a designer, project team leader, and shop manager, served as company treasurer from 1995 to 2012, and as president from 2012 to 2021. For over 52 years, Mague served as an organist at several churches and naval chapels. After overseeing the mechanical design and installation of Andover Opus 93 in 1985 at First Congregational Church of Milford, New Hampshire, he became the minister of music there, retiring in 2019.

Benjamin Goddard Mague is survived by his wife, Kathy; three children and their spouses, Jeremy (Danielle), Steve (Claire), and Anna (Garrett); and three grandchildren, Ryan, Kaylee, and Genevieve. A celebration of his life was held July 9 at First Congregational Church of Milford. Michael Eaton, an Andover colleague, played the organ that Mague designed and played for 34 years. Memorial gifts in his memory may be made to Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund by Global Giving or American Heart Association.

Donald Gordon McDonald

Donald Gordon McDonald, 97, died August 5 in Dallas, Texas. He was born February 22, 1925, in Waxahachie, Texas. In high school, he took organ lessons with Dora Poteet Barclay at Southern Methodist University. Following high school, he enrolled at SMU as a pre-med student, but left to serve in World War II in the United States Army Air Corps, Ninth Air Force, from 1943 until 1945 as a chaplain’s assistant. During the war, he was involved in the Northern France Campaign, the Ardennes Campaign, the Rhineland Campaign, and the Central Europe Campaign. For his service McDonald received the American Theater Service Medal, the European Theater Service Medal with four bronze battle stars, and the Victory Medal.

Returning from the war, McDonald attended Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to study with Alexander McCurdy, earning his Bachelor of Music degree in 1950. He continued his studies at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where he obtained a Master of Sacred Music degree in 1952 and later a Doctor of Sacred Music degree in 1964.

McDonald served on the organ faculty at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey, from 1952 to 1994 and at Union Theological Seminary from 1958 to 1966. An active recitalist, he was the first American organist to play at the annual organ week in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1963. From 1955 to 1975, he was a touring organ recitalist under the management of Colbert-LaBerge concert management. He served as the organist and minister of music at Christ Church, United Methodist, in New York City for 30 years.

Donald Gordon McDonald is survived by niece Cyndy Matthews and nephew Scotty Rutherford and their families. Memorial gifts may be given to the American Guild of Organists endowment fund at agohq.org or the Central Park Conservancy at centralparknyc.org.

Richard Bond, 73, died in Portland, Oregon, February 17. Bond first became interested in organbuilding at age fifteen. After graduating with a degree in engineering science from the University of Redlands, Redlands, California, he began his organbuilding career in the company of other builders in Los Angeles, including Manuel Rosales and Michael Bigelow. In 1976, Bond and his wife Roberta moved to Portland to found their own firm. Under his leadership, Bond Organ Builders, Inc., has built thirty-six new organs and maintains instruments throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as in California and Montana. The firm has also completed numerous rebuilds, additions projects, restorations, and relocations of significant historical instruments. For many years, Richard Bond was curator of the famous hanging Casavant organ at Portland’s Lewis & Clark College. More recently he took up the care of the Rosales organ at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, also in Portland, where he and Roberta sang in the choir. In addition to his membership in the American Institute of Organbuilders, Bond served on the Historic Organs Committee of the Organ Historical Society. Bond Organ Builders, Inc., holds membership in the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America and the International Society of Organbuilders. Richard Bond is survived by his wife Roberta and a son Tim.

John C. Gumpy, 80, of Macungie, Pennsylvania, died September 29, 2019. Born in 1939 in Danville, Pennsylvania, John owned and ran Lehigh Organ Company for over thirty years, building and rebuilding organs. For sixteen years, he also served as organist for Trinity Episcopal Church, Easton, Pennsylvania, home to his Opus 128, a three-manual instrument of thirty-six ranks. His home congregation was Grace Church, Bethlehem. He was a founding member of the American Institute 
of Organbuilding. For his projects, Gumpy generally favored electric-valve windchests and open-toe nickless voicing for chorus work; he was a skilled recycler of older pipes as well. Some Lehigh projects included Opus 30 at First United Church of Christ in Reading, Pennsylvania (1986), in which a 1958 M. P. Möller organ was expanded to 80 ranks, including a new Great division and other material. John C. Gumpy is survived by his wife of fifty-seven years, Margery; son, Edward J. Gumpy and wife Kathryn of Vernon, New Jersey; daughter, Katherine E. and husband Jeffrey Crawford of Golden, Colorado; and grandson, Logan Gibson Gumpy. A memorial service was held October 4, 2019, at New Goshenhoppen U.C.C. in East Greenville, Pennsylvania.

Homer H. Lewis, Jr., a reed voicer who worked for both M. P. Möller and his own firm Trivo, died May 4 in Hagerstown, Maryland. Known familiarly as “Junie,” Lewis was 93. In 1942, while still a high school senior, Lewis began employment at Möller doing defense work. In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving aboard the USS Bronstein, a destroyer escort, as a fire control man, Third Class, in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. At the conclusion of World War II, Lewis returned to Möller to become a reed voicer alongside his uncle, Adolf Zajic (1909–1987), who had come to Möller from Welte-Tripp in 1931. In 1963, Lewis, Joseph E. Clipp, and Edward Lushbaugh founded the Trivo Company, initially as a part-time enterprise. In 1969, the partners incorporated the business as Trivo Company, Inc., to provide voicing and reconditioning of reed stops, as well as new pipes. Lewis retired from Möller in 1972. While continuing to work part time at Trivo, he taught principles of electricity at Victor Cullen Reform School for Boys in Sabillasville, Maryland, a correctional institute run by the State of Maryland. In 1974 when the state relocated the school, Lewis switched to full-time work at Trivo, and in 1983, Lewis and Clipp bought out Edward Lushbaugh’s share of Trivo. Lewis retired in 2012 at age 86. His career in the organ business spanned seven decades. Lewis was a member of the Improved Order of Red Men #84, Williamsport, Maryland; Washington County Amvets (Post 10), Hagerstown; and the American Legion. He was a founding member of the American Institute of Organbuilders. His wife, Nancy, who frequently joined her husband at AIO conventions, died last year.

Marvin Garrett Judy, 76, founder of Schudi Organ Company, died February 29. Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1943, he moved with his family to Dallas, Texas, in 1952. He studied ’cello through high school and college years. After attending Southern Methodist University for several years, he left in 1963 to work for Robert Sipe and Rodney Yarbrough at the Sipe-Yarbrough Organ Company, Texas’s second 20th-century builder (after Otto Hofmann) to concentrate on mechanical key action. When Sipe went to the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in that firm’s final years (1969–1972), Judy installed that firm’s organs in the south and southeastern states, a phase of his career that drew to a close with Aeolian-Skinner’s bankruptcy, Sipe’s return to Texas, and Judy’s founding of Schudi in Garland, Texas, in 1972. In all, the Schudi firm built twenty-seven new organs, primarily in Texas but also Oklahoma, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. Beginning with Opus 17 (1980), a two-manual tracker in Texarkana, Texas, the Schudi shop concentrated on mechanical action. Keyboards, slider windchests, key and stop actions, casework, and consoles were made in-house; pipes, blowers, and electronic components came from other firms. Schudi’s first instrument to draw national attention was a three-manual electric-slider instrument, Opus 6 of 1978, for St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Dallas. Opus 6 was expanded in 1987 and became widely noticed that year for Todd Wilson’s recording of the complete organ works of Maurice Duruflé (DELOS 3047). As esteemed was the firm’s Opus 38 (1987) in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C. In addition to servicing Schudi organs, Judy maintained those by others, notably his twenty-two-year curatorship of C. B. Fisk’s Opus 100 at Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas. In all of the shop’s endeavors, Marvin was surrounded by considerable talent: the conceptual and creative input of George Gilliam early on; long-term staffers Charles Leonard, Jim Lane, James Stillson, Jonathon Maedche, Ivan Witt, Szymon Januszkiewicz, and Piotr Bolesta; also the now-deceased David Zuber, Moises Carrasco, and E. O. Witt; the periodic support of friend and colleague Mark Lively; and through it all, the business and logistical support of Nanette Gordon, initially hired in 1980 to carve pipe shades. She and Marvin Judy married in 1983. The financial downturn of the late 1980s and early 1990s dealt harshly with several organbuilding establishments, Schudi among them. Despite the loss of contracts and a reduction of scope, Judy persevered, with a genial nature and persistent work ethic that continued to the end. Even until his final months, he remained active in rebuilding and service work in the Dallas area. Marvin Judy is survived by his wife Nanette; his son, John Judy, of Savannah, Georgia; a daughter, Allison Gordon and Stephen Shein of Houston, Texas; and his brother, Dwight Judy, and sister-in-law, Ruth Judy of Syracuse, Indiana.  —Jonathan Ambrosino

David C. Scribner died April 16. Born September 21, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, he received most of his organ instruction as a student of Arthur C. Becker and René Dosogne at DePaul University. At Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Scribner became Becker’s assistant and then successor as organist. During his time in Chicago, Scribner was a member of the Windy City Gay Men’s Chorus. Scribner would move to San Francisco, California, Pensacola, Florida, and finally Little Rock, Arkansas. His most recent organist position was at Christ Episcopal Church, Little Rock, as a substitute. He also served as a vestryman of that parish, where he freely contributed computer expertise to allow the church to spread its ministry through social media. Having previously worked for other organ firms, Scribner spent the last twenty years at Nichols & Simpson Organbuilders in Little Rock. David Scribner was an active member of the American Institute of Organbuilders, the Organ Historical Society, the American Guild of Organists, the Atlantic City Convention Hall Organ Society, the Organ Media Foundation, and Pipechat.org, the latter being his creation. All these organizations he served in numerous ways, much of which involved his expert computer technical knowledge. In addition to his passion for the pipe organ, Scribner was a lifelong railroad enthusiast, greatly enjoying travel on Amtrak and anything else with a connection to train tracks. In this vein, he supported numerous historical clubs and railway museums. Per his wishes, Scribner’s cremains were interred in Christ Church, Little Rock, on May 1, as near to the organ as possible. A memorial organ concert in his honor will be scheduled in the future at Christ Church, where memorial donations may be made in his name.

William Chandler Teague, 97, died June 27. He was born July 8, 1922, in Gainesville, Texas, where he began musical training at age three with his mother. At age 12 he became the organist for a large Methodist church. As a teenager he studied organ in Dallas, Texas, and entered Southern Methodist University at age 16. His studies were interrupted when Alexander McCurdy invited him to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His studies at Curtis were interrupted by World War II, as he joined the United States Army Air Force as a chaplain’s assistant. He returned to Curtis after the war to study and serve as McCurdy’s assistant, playing for Sunday oratorio performances at First Presbyterian Church. Accompanying Teague to Philadelphia was his young bride, the former Lucille Ridinger, whom he had married during the war. They had met at a Methodist camp when they were 12 years old. Teague’s organ teachers included Dora Poteet Barclay, Alexander McCurdy, Marie-Claire Alain, Harold Gleason, and Catharine Crozier. After graduation from Curtis in 1948, Teague came to Shreveport, Louisiana, to accept the position of organist/choirmaster at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (now the location of The Church of the Holy Cross, St. Mark’s having relocated in 1954 and in 1990 became a cathedral) and a teaching position at Centenary College of Louisiana in the organ and sacred music departments. He taught for 44 years earning the rank of full professor. He was later designated Professor of Music Emeritus at the college, which granted him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. He served as accompanist as he and his wife traveled with the Centenary College Choir to various countries including China. He served St. Mark’s Cathedral for 39 years before being designated Organist Emeritus. Teague maintained an active concert career, performing in such venues as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, Westminster Abbey, Trinity Church Wall Street and the Riverside Church in New York City, National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and the armed forces academies. He was invited to play behind the Iron Curtain with concerts in East Berlin, Poland, and in other countries. He and Lucille were in East Berlin at the Wall when the first blows were struck to tear it down. He would perform in Japan, Australia, all over the United States and Europe, and in North Africa. In addition to solo organ concerts, William joined his son, Chandler, in presenting music for organ and percussion in concerts across the United States. Following his retirement from St. Mark’s Cathedral, Teague was interim organist for churches throughout the region. Teague was active in the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, the Sewanee Music Conference, and the Evergreen Summer Conference. He was a Fellow in Church Music at Washington National Cathedral. For ten summers Teague was summer organist at St. Ann’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Kennebunkport, Maine. He was a founding member of Baroque Artists of Shreveport, founded the Great Masterpiece Series at St. Mark’s Cathedral, recorded a weekly organ concert for radio broadcast for eight years, trained thousands of choristers in the tradition of Anglican music, and played for hundreds of weddings, funerals, and festivals. Raven Recordings released a two-CD set of organ music performed by Teague at St. Mark’s Cathedral, The Aeolian-Skinner Sound (OAR-800), including works by Dupré, Messiaen, and Willan. In 1988, the City of Shreveport honored him with William C. Teague Day, and the Teague Music Scholarship was established at Centenary College. The Teague-Smith Scholarship Fund for young choristers was later established at St. Mark’s Cathedral. Teague is listed in volumes of Who’s Who including the International Who’s Who, and was recently honored by the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival. William Chandler Teague is survived by a son, Chandler Teague, and wife, Janis Adams Teague, of Shreveport, Louisiana; a daughter, Lynda Gayle Teague Deacon of Memphis, Tennessee; three grandchildren, Sandra Deacon, Clay Deacon, and Hunter Deacon; and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 77 years, Lucille Ridinger Teague. A combined service for Dr. and Mrs. Teague will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, 616 Jordan St., Shreveport, LA 71101; the Teague-Smith Scholarship Fund at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 908 Rutherford St., Shreveport, LA 71104; or the Teague Music Scholarship Fund at Centenary College, 2911 Centenary Blvd., Shreveport, LA 71104.

Delbert Disselhorst

Delbert Disselhorst, 81, of Iowa City, Iowa, died September 1. He was born November 3, 1940, in Keokuk, Iowa, and attended public schools in Hamilton, Illinois. He enrolled at the University of Illinois where he graduated as a Bronze Tablet Scholar in 1962. Disselhorst was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for study with Helmut Walcha in Frankfurt, Germany. He returned to the United States in 1964 and earned a Master of Music degree in organ from the University of Illinois the following year.

Disselhorst taught at Hastings College, Hastings, Nebraska, from 1965 until 1968. He then went to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ in 1970, receiving the Palmer Christian citation as a distinguished graduate of the organ department.

Disselhorst was professor of organ at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, from 1970 until his retirement in 2008. He was affiliated for many years with Phyllis Stringham concert management, Waukesha, Wisconsin, and played recitals and gave masterclasses throughout the United States and in Germany, France, Denmark, and Korea. He was guest artist at international festivals and concert series including the International Organ Days at Trier Cathedral in Germany; Freiburg Munster; and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. He played at regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists and served as visiting professor of organ at the University of Notre Dame for the 2011–2012 academic year. Disselhorst recorded on the Arkay and Pro Organo labels. His two volumes of the chorale preludes of Helmut Walcha recorded at First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois, were released by the Naxos label in 2013. Recordings of an all-Bach recital that Disselhorst played in 1999 at Clapp Recital Hall on the University of Iowa campus are available at http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/03760.

Disselhorst served on the board of directors for Iowa City Early Keyboard Society. He was a long-time member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Iowa City, before joining First Presbyterian Church, Iowa City, where he was a member at the time of his death. Memorial contributions in Disselhorst’s memory may be made to the Frederick T. Rahn, Jr., Memorial Fund at the University of Iowa School of Music, payable to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement, P. O. Box 4550, Iowa City, Iowa 52244; or Bethel Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, Illinois.

A memorial service for Delbert Disselhorst was held September 24 at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Iowa City. Burial will take place at Oakwood Cemetery, Hamilton, Illinois.

Glen A. Douglas, M.D.

Glen A. Douglas, M.D., died March 1, 2021, in Houston, Texas. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, he attended Little Rock Central High School; Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas; University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock; and Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. He served as a flight surgeon for the United States Air Force, stationed in Taiwan and throughout the American Southwest during the Vietnam conflict. Professionally, he served as medical director for occupational medicine for Texaco and later ExxonMobil.

Douglas’s all-consuming passions were adopting rescue dogs and building the pipe organ that stands in his home, Aeolian Manor, in Houston. He presented performers in concert on the ever-evolving instrument, and he created the Aeolian Manor Foundation to assist young organists with training and developing careers around the pipe organ. Douglas was always on the lookout for young talent he could present in recital at Aeolian Manor, and he gave generously toward student attendance at conventions and at the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival. He was a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, and the American Theatre Organ Society.

A memorial service for Glen Douglas at Aeolian Manor will be planned for a later date. The Aeolian Manor Foundation will continue its work according to Douglas’s wishes, and the organ and home will remain intact and in use. The foundation has begun expanding its offerings by providing music lessons of all types to underprivileged Houstonians and becoming involved in local arts festivals and musical celebrations of all cultures.

In lieu of customary remembrances, readers are encouraged to adopt a pet, attend an organ recital, fund a young person’s piano or organ lessons, fund a young person’s attendance at an organ convention, and give to the Aeolian Manor Foundation. For information: aeolianmanorfoundation.org.

Walter Lee Hillsman

Walter Lee Hillsman, 79, died August 19. He was born February 25, 1943, in Dallas, Texas, and began organ lessons at an early age. As a teenager, Hillsman was awarded a scholarship to attend a choral workshop at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey. During that trip, he met Alexander McCurdy, head of the organ department at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hillsman was subsequently awarded a three-year scholarship to Curtis. He left Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas to complete his high school education at Lincoln College Preparatory School, Philadelphia, while he studied at Curtis. In 1964 he graduated from Curtis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. During his time in Philadelphia, he served as organist and choirmaster of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church and Old Christ Church.

After his graduation from Curtis, Hillsman was encouraged to apply to Oxford or Cambridge universities by one of his mentors, Robert Evans, professor of theology and organist at University of Pennsylvania. Hillsman was granted a scholarship to attend New College, Oxford University. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford in 1967, his Master of Arts degree in 1971, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1985. During his time at New College, Hillsman served as an organ scholar to David Lumsden, New College organist. At Oxford, Hillsman won a Fulbright scholarship to study with Karl Richter at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany.

Hillsman was active with organ performances, articles, presentations, broadcast recitals, and positions as organist, choirmaster, instructor, lecturer, and performer during the years he lived in Oxford. He played recitals at Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral, Washington National Cathedral, St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and at Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Columbia, and Yale universities. Hillsman gave broadcast recitals for the BBC and Radio France. He recorded on the Vista label in England and the Teldec label in Germany. He taught at Trinity College of Music in London, Reading University, and as a member of the faculty of music at Oxford University. In 1966, Hillsman was chosen as accompanist for a performance by the joint choirs of New College, Oxford, and Magdalen College, Oxford, as they sang in a recital that was part of a concert series commemorating the 900th anniversary of the founding of Westminster Abbey.

In 1993, Hillsman moved back to Dallas where he held various positions, including as a German instructor at Eastfield College and as a customer service representative for Neiman Marcus. He obtained his brokerage license and worked for Fidelity Investments for fourteen years.

In 2015 Hillsman and his brother Roger moved together to Houston into an apartment at Clarewood House senior living facility. Roger Hillsman died in April 2022.

A memorial service for Walter Hillsman was held October 1 at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home Chapel, Houston, followed by graveside committal. Memorial contributions in the name of Hillsman may be directed to Help Musicians, Musicians Benevolent Fund in the UK (helpmusicians.org.uk) or to the New Organist Fund of the American Guild of Organists in the United States (agohq.org).

Reverend Richard F. Jones

Reverend Richard F. Jones died August 28. He was born July 17, 1956. Prior to retiring in 2020, he served for 25 years as pastor of First Parish Church of Bolton, Massachusetts. He was a leader in the cultural life of the Worcester, Massachusetts, area and an advocate for music and history throughout the region. As Hook organ curator and development officer of historic Mechanics Hall, Worcester, he instituted the popular free noontime Brown Bag concert series and worked with many well-known personalities from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Jones served numerous organizations including two terms as dean of the Worcester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and as board member of the Organ Historical Society. In his work as chapter dean, Jones instituted a public school program that educated thousands of students about the pipe organ. In 1985, he organized the Fuller International Organ Festival with organists including Simon Preston, Peter Hurford, and David Higgs. He further served as education director of the Worcester Historical Museum, was a contributing writer for Worcester Magazine, hosted a radio program on the local NPR station, The Art of the Organ, served as musical consultant for the Merchant-Ivory film, The Bostonians, and was an active member of the Worcester Shakespeare Club. He served on the organ restoration committees of both the 1864 E. & G. G. Hook Opus 224 in Mechanics Hall and the 1933 W. W. Kimball K.P.O. 7119 in Worcester Auditorium.

A memorial service for Reverend Richard F. Jones was held October 11 at Mechanics Hall, Worcester. A tribute concert is being planned at the hall for 2023. Memorial donations may be sent to the 1864 Hook Organ Fund at Mechanics Hall, 321 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01608, or donate at: MechanicsHall.app.neoncrm.com/forms/the-worcester-organ.

Robert Graham Lent

Robert Graham Lent, 72, of Lyndhurst, Virginia, died August 27. Born October 18, 1949, in Richmond, Virginia, he married Jean Ellen Taomina on March 3, 1981. Lent was a veteran having served his country honorably as a Corporal with the United States Marine Corps from 1971 until 1973. Following his service to his country, he worked as a police officer in Berkeley Township, New Jersey, from 1973 until 1978.

In 1986 Lent moved to Waynesboro, Virginia, where he worked for Klann Organ Supply. He worked as a pipe organ mechanic for over 60 years and later owned and operated Shenandoah Organ Studio, Inc. As an organist, he served as house organist at Tower Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1969–1975; Byrd Theater in Richmond, Virginia, 1989–1990; and other places around the country. He was a member of the Marine Corps League and the Mid-East Division of the Military Order of the Devil Dogs in which he served as the 48th Past Chief.

Survivors of Robert Graham Lent include his wife, Jean Ellen Lent of Lyndhurst; sons, Robert Harding Lent and wife Lynne of Dayton, Virginia, and Raymond Taliaferro Lent of Lyndhurst; grandson Robert Edward Lent of Dayton, Virginia; two sisters, Nancy Moore of Robbinsville, New Jersey, and Charlotte Lent of Newfoundland, Pennsylvania; and brother, Russell Lent. He was buried with military honors September 23 at Quantico National Cemetery, Triangle, Virginia. Memorial contributions may be made to the Augusta Health Foundation, c/o Shenandoah Hospice House, P. O. Box 1000, Fishersville, Virginia 22939, or the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, attn: Development Department, 875 North Randolph Street, Suite 225, Arlington, Virginia 22203, or online at support.nmcrs.org/a/homepage.

Richard T. Bouchette

Richard T. Bouchett, 85, of New York, New York, died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 17. He was born March 6, 1937, in Seymour, Texas, attended Texas Christian University, and earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Oklahoma, an artist’s diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, and Master and Doctor of Sacred Music degrees from the Union Theological Seminary, New York City, with the dissertation “The Organ Music of Jehan Alain.” His organ teachers included Emmet Smith, Adrienne Reisner, Mildred Andrews, Alexander McCurdy, Robert Baker, Marie-Claire Alain, and Anton Heiller. He was the 1966 winner of the Young Artists’ Competition sponsored by the Boston Symphony and the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and was presented in recital at Symphony Hall in Boston. He taught organ at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey, and Indiana University, Bloomington, and presented recitals across the United States, including performances at several AGO regional conventions.

For ten years Bouchett was organist at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City where he recorded an LP entitled The Organs of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Played by Richard Bouchett, presently available on YouTube and Amazon. In 1972 he was named director of music and organist for First Presbyterian Church, Greenwich, Connecticut. He conducted a semi-professional choir that performed cantatas and oratorios with orchestra in addition to singing at regular services, and developed a concert series, “Music from the Top.” Bouchett supervised the installation of a 66-rank M. P. Möller organ in the church’s sanctuary, where he premiered a commissioned work of Ruth Schonthal, The Temptation of St. Anthony.

Before moving to New York City, he held positions at the Church of the Good Samaritan (Episcopal) in Paoli, Pennsylvania, and the Episcopal Academy in Overbrook, Pennsylvania. After his retirement from First Presbyterian Church, Greenwich, in 2002, he played for several years at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Greenwich, and was a substitute musician for churches in and around New York City, including Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Richard T. Bouchett is survived by his brother Frank and sister-in-law Betty, three nephews, and numerous grandnephews and grandnieces.

Diana Lee Lucker

Diana Lee Lucker, 89, was born Diana Lee Kennelly, July 9, 1932, in Seattle, Washington, and died January 15, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her first piano lessons were given by her mother; she later attended the Juilliard School of Music. Her first organ teachers included Ronald Hooper and Rupert Sircom. She earned her Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Minnesota and studied there with Heinrich Fleischer and Dean Billmeyer.

Lucker was assistant professor of music at Augsburg College and Bethel College and taught privately. She served as organist at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church for 16 years, as interim organist at Westminster Presbyterian Church (1994–1995), and as organist for Wayzata Community Church from 1995 until 2016. The four-manual Hendrickson organ was installed shortly after her arrival; she performed its dedication recital in September 1998.

While at Wayzata she directed an annual summer organ recital series as well as a concert series of over 40 events each year including orchestral, choral, piano, small ensemble, and organ programs. Lucker was active in several capacities for the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. As a recitalist, she performed throughout the United States and in Scandinavia and Italy.

Diana Lee Lucker is survived by three daughters, five stepchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. Memorial gifts may be made to: Des Moines Metro Opera, 106 West Boston Avenue, Indianola, Iowa 50125; or Pipedreams, MPR, 480 Cedar Street, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101.

Thomas H. Troeger

Thomas H. Troeger, hymn writer, preacher, homiletics professor, theologian, poet, musician, columnist, and author, died April 3. Born in 1945, he grew up in New Jersey and upstate New York. After graduating from Yale University cum laude in 1967, he attended Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, New York, where he earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree (now designated as Master of Divinity). He later received an S.T.D. degree from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, and, most recently, an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 2014.

Following graduation from Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Troeger was ordained a Presbyterian minister and served as associate pastor for the Presbyterian Church of New Hartford, New York (1970–1977). (He was later ordained an Episcopal priest.) He returned to (now) Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall, Crozer Theological Seminary as a professor of preaching and parish ministry (1977–1991) before moving to Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado, where he was the Ralph E. and Norman E. Peck Professor of Preaching and Communications (1991–2005). In addition to his professorial duties, Troeger began serving in administrative posts as the director of the Doctor of Ministry program (2000–2005) and the senior vice president and dean of academic affairs (2002–2005). At that time, Troeger moved to Yale as the J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of Christian Communication (2005–2015).

Troeger was a prolific author and hymnist. He authored more than a dozen books on homiletics, essays for Feasting on the Word, a monthly column for Lectionary Homiletics over a period of years, and articles and chapters that appeared in scholarly venues. He served as president of the Academy of Homiletics (1987) and co-president of Societas Homiletica, the international guild (2008–2010). The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada named him a Fellow of the society, and he received a lifetime achievement award from the North American Academy of Homiletics.

Troeger also published books in the areas of liturgy and spirituality. He served as chaplain to the American Guild of Organists and wrote a monthly column for The American Organist for four years. He became affiliated with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he had standing during his tenure at Yale. As a poet and a hymnist, Troeger composed more than 400 hymn texts and poems, many of which are now in current hymnals of most denominations.

Thomas H. Troeger is survived by his wife of 54 years, Merle Marie Troeger; his brother, Don, and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Crawford and Julie Butler of Conway, New Hampshire. A memorial service was held on May 3 at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary, Falmouth, Maine.