Charles W. Steele retires

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.

Robert E. Fort, Jr. died on January 29 in DeLand, Florida. A native of Ocala, Florida, he was a graduate of the University of Florida, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Craighead. He earned a doctor of sacred music degree from the School of Music of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he studied with Vernon deTar. Dr. Fort taught at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, and at Stetson University, and was a lifelong church musician, serving most recently as organist-choirmaster at the First Presbyterian Church in DeLand. Active in the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, he was an honorary lifetime member and had served as its president; he also served as dean of the Central Florida AGO chapter and was a member of the Hymn Society and the American Choral Directors Association. Dr. Fort wrote widely on church music topics and led workshops and hymn festivals throughout the country. Robert Fort is survived by his wife of 49 years, Patricia Mims Fort, and his children, Robert Fort III and Carolyn Fort.

Timothy J. Oliver died in Frankfort, Kentucky on January 5. He was 71. Born in Cincinnati, he earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State College and subsequently studied organ with Arnold Blackburn at the University of Kentucky, where he earned a master of music degree. Active in the Lexington, Kentucky AGO chapter, Oliver initiated and for many years maintained the chapter’s organ academy; he had also been a member of the music and liturgy commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, helping to plan and rehearse the 1995 diocesan centennial service. Timothy Oliver had served as organist at Midway Presbyterian Church, following his retirement as organist-choirmaster at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Versailles after a long tenure. He held a similar position at Versailles Presbyterian Church, establishing a children’s and a handbell choir, and leading the renovation of the church’s Pilcher organ; he also served at Church of the Ascension in Frankfort. He twice directed the Woodford Community Choir and was a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and the Organ Historical Society. Timothy Oliver is survived by many friends and several cousins.

French organist Michel Pinte died of a heart attack in Malaga, Spain, on October 21, 2008. Born on July 21, 1936 in Etrepagny (Eure, in Normandy), he was buried in the nearby cemetery in Doudeauville-en-Vexin. A Requiem Mass was celebrated in his memory on November 8, 2008, at the Saint-Augustin church in Paris, where he had served as organist for 29 years.
Michel Pinte began to play the organ for Masses at the parish church in his home town at the age of ten. Two years later, he began organ lessons in Rouen with Jules Lambert (substituting for him) and then with Marcel Lanquetuit. In 1956, during his military service, he served as organist at the Saint-Philippe cathedral in Algiers. When he returned to Paris in 1962, he studied piano with Irène Baume-Psichari, harmony with Yves Margat, Gregorian chant with Henri Potiron at the Institut grégorien, and organ with Jean Langlais at the Schola Cantorum, where he received his diploma in virtuosic organ interpretation and improvisation in 1964. He also studied later with Marie-Madeleine Duruflé-Chevalier, Marie-Louise Girod, and Suzanne Chaisemartin.
After substituting at numerous churches (notably in Paris at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in Passy and on the choir organs at Saint-Augustin and the Versailles cathedral), in 1968 Pinte was named titular of the Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin choir organ at the Saint-Augustin church in Paris. In 1973, he requested Victor Gonzalez to enlarge this organ to 32 stops with six adjustable pistons, enabling him to play the entire repertory comfortably. He later entrusted the maintenance of this organ to Bernard Dargassies. In 1979, Michel Pinte also assisted Suzanne Chaisemartin on the 1868 Barker/Cavaillé-Coll/Mutin Grand Orgue (III/53) and was appointed as her co-titular in 1990. He retired in June 1997, and spent his final years in Marbella, Spain (Malaga).
During his retirement, Michel Pinte performed even more concerts in Europe and the United States. In Spain, he performed for the organ weeks in Grenada in 1999 and in Madrid in 2000, and at the Palau de la Música in Valencia in 2007 (for more details, see <www.musimem.com&gt;). Audiences appreciated his eclectic programs that highlighted nineteenth and twentieth-century repertory (notably works by Demessieux, Vierne, and Widor as well as lesser-known works) and were captivated by his final brilliant improvisation on a well-known theme.
His solid technique and his open spirit allowed him to express himself easily and freely, to fully share his vital love of music with others. To cite one example, those who attended his concert at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C. on November 13, 1986, will never forget his stunning improvisation on America the Beautiful. This cultural ambassador will long be remembered for his vast artistic knowledge, his creative imagination, and his good sense of humor.
—Carolyn Shuster Fournier
Paris, France

Travis R. Powell, age 36, died on January 19 in Carey, Ohio. A student of Donald MacDonald, he earned a bachelor of church music degree from Westminster Choir College, and a master of sacred music degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he was a student of Robert Anderson. Powell was director of music–organist at the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio, where he directed the shrine chorale and a children’s choir and played over 650 Masses a year. He also taught general music at Our Lady of Consolation School and was artistic director of the Carey Ecumenical Choir; he had previously served at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe Cathedral in Dallas. He was a member of the American Guild of Organists, National Association of Pastoral Musicians, Organ Historical Society, American Choral Directors Association, Choristers Guild, and the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians.

Robert Wendell Robe died on January 24 in Tampa, Florida. He was 79. Born July 8, 1929, in Zanesville, Ohio, he attended Meredith College in Zanesville and Capitol University. A church musician for 64 years, he began his musical career as organist for St. Luke’s Lutheran Church and played for “The Coffee Club,” a local radio program. He held organist positions at Webb City Presbyterian Church, New Haven Presbyterian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Forest Hills Presbyterian and Wellspring United Methodist churches, both in Tampa, Florida, and until last year at the Kirk of Dunedin Community Church in Dunedin, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary Robe, two daughters and three sisters.

Mary Landon Russell died November 20, 2008, in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, at age 95. She attended Dickinson Junior College and in 1936 earned a bachelor of music degree from Susquehanna University. In 1957 she earned a master of arts degree from Pennsylvania State University, and did further study at the Chautauqua Institution School of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music. She taught at Lycoming College from 1936 until her retirement in 1978, when she was named associate professor of music emerita and continued as a part-time piano teacher there for another twenty years.
Mrs. Russell was a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Guild of Organists, of which she was a past dean of the Williamsport chapter, the Williamsport Music Club, and the National and Pennsylvania Federations of Music Clubs. She was also a 50-year member and honorary regent of the Lycoming Chapter, Daughters of the America Revolution, and was awarded the Martha Washington Medal from the Tiadaghton Chapter (Sons of the American Revolution) for her “History of the Music of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.” She is listed in Outstanding Educators of America; during her 50th year of teaching at Lycoming College, the school’s Alumni Association established the Mary Landon Russell Applied Music Fund, which provides financial aid to musically gifted students. Mrs. Russell frequently served as organist at Covenant-Central Presbyterian Church, and in other area churches.

Martha Novak Clinkscale, American musicologist and researcher in the history of the early piano, died in Dallas on April 24 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Born in Akron, Ohio (June 16, 1933), Dr. Clinkscale held piano performance degrees from the University of Louisville (Kentucky) and Yale University, and the PhD in musicology from the University of Minnesota. Her two-volume study Makers of the Piano 1700–1820 and Makers of the Piano 1820–1860 (both published by Oxford University Press) comprises nearly a thousand pages of carefully detailed information about extant instruments: an invaluable and oft-quoted source.
The introductory essays to these books immediately reveal both a mastery of vocabulary and the wide-ranging extent and geographical distribution of the many colleagues who contributed information about the instruments listed. Two short examples from the second volume: “Those musicians who preferred the caress of the clavichord’s tangent found in the early square pianoforte a felicitous addition to their musical experience” (p. ix); “[This book] is not intended to be a frivolous addition to its owners’ libraries. It seeks to inform . . .” (p. x).
Precise and carefully crafted prose as well as the avowed intent to maintain a consistency of style were also hallmarks of the author’s approach to life. John Watson, creator of the technical drawings accompanying the second volume and primary collaborator in a related online database Early Pianos 1720–1860, summed it up succinctly: “She was an elegant woman.”
Martha Clinkscale served the American musical community in many capacities, including as editor of the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society (1993–6) and as treasurer of the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society (2004–8). She taught at the University of California, Riverside (1979–96) and the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University (1998–2004), where she was also a member of the organ department’s examining juries each semester of her years in Dallas.
Survivors include daughter Lise Loeffler-Welton and son Thor Loeffler, as well as professional colleagues and friends on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
—Larry Palmer

Anna G. Fiore-Smith died in Fall River, Rhode Island, on November 11, 2009, at the age of 81. She studied piano at the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School, and studied organ with Homer Humphrey and later with George Faxon at the New England Conservatory; she also studied with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau, France, winning first prizes in piano, organ, chamber music, and solfège. Fiore-Smith served as organist and choir director at St. Stephen’s Church, the Church of the Ascension, and Temple Beth El, all in Providence, R.I., and later at the Barrington Congregational Church; she also taught organ at Barrington College. A former dean of the Rhode Island AGO chapter, her name was given to a chapter award that is bestowed on a member organist who typifies her devotion to the organ. She was also active in the Greater Fall River Symphony Society, and was a member of its first executive board. Anna G. Fiore-Smith was preceded in death by her husband, Harold N. Smith; she is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Faust D. and Susanne Fiore, and many nieces and nephews.

Martin Owen Gemoets died on February 3 in Galveston, Texas. He was 42. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Houston, and a master’s degree in organ from the University of North Texas at Denton in 1996. A member of the Dallas and later Fort Worth AGO chapter, Gemoets held the AAGO and ChM certifications and promoted interest in the certification exams, writing articles on music history for the Fort Worth chapter’s newsletter. He was working toward his FAGO certification. He had recently relocated to Galveston. Martin Owen Gemoets was interred next to his father in Houston during a private graveside service.

Donald M. Gillett died April 3 in Hagerstown, Maryland, at the age of 90. He was the last president of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts, which closed in 1972. Born April 8, 1919, in Southwick, Massachusetts, he earned a degree in business administration from the University of Maryland. He served four years in the Army Air Corps, stationed in Midland, Texas, as a chaplain’s assistant.
Don’s musical interest started when he was four years old, his parents having taken him to a number of organ recitals at the Municipal Auditorium in Springfield, Massachusetts. He started piano lessons at age six with Dorothy Mulroney, the Municipal Auditorium organist. After moving to Washington, D.C., he studied piano and organ with Lewis Atwater, organist at All Souls Unitarian Church and also Washington Hebrew Congregation. Don’s interest in organbuilding also started with the study of the organ.
His first organbuilding job was with Lewis & Hitchcock in Washington, D.C. Four years later in 1951, with a desire to learn voicing and tonal finishing, he was hired at Aeolian-Skinner, working under G. Donald Harrison and reed voicer Herbert Pratt. In later years, Don became a vice president and head tonal finisher. Upon the retirement of Joseph Whiteford in 1968, Don was offered the opportunity to buy up controlling interest in Aeolian-Skinner, and then became president and tonal director.
In the early 1970s, Aeolian-Skinner was building its last three instruments: St. Bartholomew’s NYC, Trinity Wall Street, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The company was in the final stages of Chapter 11 and eventual closing. Don’s last finishing for Aeolian-Skinner was the Kennedy Center.
In March 1972, Riley Daniels, president of the M. P. Möller Organ Company in Hagerstown, offered Don a job at Möller as head flue pipe voicer. After the death of John Hose, Möller’s tonal director, Don became tonal director, and eventually vice president. He retired from Möller in 1991.
Also an avid art collector, he served on the Board of Directors of the Washington County (Maryland) Museum of Fine Arts. Donald M. Gillett is survived by his companion of 40 years, Warren S. Goding of Hagerstown; sister-in-law, Jane Mace of Palm City, Florida; and cousin, Mary Davis of Fort Lee, New Jersey.
—Irv Lawless
Hagerstown, Maryland

Frances M. Heusinkveld, 83 years old, died February 22 in Forest City, Iowa. She attended Northwestern Junior College in Orange City, Iowa, and Central College in Pella, where she studied piano and began organ lessons. She pursued a master’s degree in piano at the University of Iowa and later eared a Ph.D. in organ literature there. Heusinkveld taught in various schools in Iowa, including Upper Iowa University and for 33 years at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, where she taught theory, music appreciation, piano, and organ. She was also organist of the United Methodist Church in Storm Lake, where she helped the church install a Bedient organ in 2002. Heusinkveld earned the Service Playing, Colleague, and AAGO certifications, and served as dean of the Buena Vista AGO chapter; she also played the cello and was a member of the Cherokee Symphony Orchestra. She enjoyed the study of foreign languages and traveled extensively. Frances M. Heusinkveld is survived by two brothers and many nieces and nephews.

Richard Dunn Howell died January 26 in Dallas. He was 78. Born in Great Bend, Kansas, he began playing for church services at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita at the age of 13. He graduated from Wichita University in 1954 and Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in 1957; he received a master of sacred music degree from Southern Methodist University in 1966. Howell taught elementary music in Richardson and Dallas, and played for many children’s, youth, and adult choirs. He also directed various handbell ensembles. In the course of his activities, he worked with Austin Lovelace and Lloyd Pfautsch. Richard Dunn Howell is survived by his wife of 52 years, Bradley Sue, three children, and three grandchildren.

Austin C. Lovelace, composer and church organist, and Minister of Music, Emeritus, at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver, died April 25 at the age of 91. Born March 26, 1919, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, he began serving as a church organist when he was 15 and went on to do workshops and recitals in 45 states and six countries. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music at High Point College in North Carolina in 1939 and his master’s (1941) and doctorate (1950) in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Lovelace was a chaplain’s assistant in the Navy and served as minister of music at a number of churches, including First Baptist Church and First Methodist in High Point, North Carolina; Holy Trinity Episcopal, Lincoln, Nebraska; Myers Park Presbyterian Church and Myers Park Baptist, Charlotte, North Carolina; First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro; First Methodist, Evanston, Illinois; Christ Methodist, New York City; Lover’s Lane Methodist in Dallas, and Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church and Wellshire Presbyterian in Denver.
He was still filling in as organist at area churches when he was 87. He taught at several colleges, including Queen’s College and Davidson College in North Carolina, Union Theological Seminary, Iliff School of Theology in Denver, and Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Lovelace was fond of jazz. Twice, he had Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington, both with their bands, join the choir at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church for performances. Lovelace, known for his sense of humor, wrote five books, including “Hymns That Jesus Would Not Have Liked.” A prolific writer and composer, Lovelace has several hundred compositions in print, as well as numerous articles and books on church hymnody; he was involved with twenty denominations in the development of their hymnals. A past president and Fellow of the Hymn Society of America, Lovelace was also active in the American Guild of Organists, including serving as dean of the North Shore chapter. In 2009 he received the American Music Research Center’s Distinguished Achievement Award, and was honored by the Denver Chapter of the American Guild of Organists with a hymn festival.
Austin Lovelace is survived by his wife of 69 years, Pauline Palmer (“Polly”) Lovelace, daughter Barbara Lovelace Williams, and a grandson.

Nunc Dimittis

Joseph Edwin Lee, Jr., 95, of Knoxville, Tennessee, died February 6. He was born January 22, 1922, in Moscow, Idaho, and raised in rural towns of North Dakota and Wisconsin. Lee attended Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, graduating in 1944 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that year to participate in the Manhattan Project of World War II as an electrical engineer. Having studied piano and organ, he formed Lee Organ, Inc., building and maintaining organs in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. Lee was a charter member of the American Institute of Organbuilders. Joseph Edwin Lee, Jr., is survived by his six children: Pat (Dave) Arnett of Florida, Becky Szymanski of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Debbie Ice of Texas, Joe (Julie) Lee of Oak Ridge, Cathy Lee of Kansas, and Ardyce Lee of Oak Ridge; one brother, Reverend Paul (Barbara) Lee of Wisconsin; six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

Helen Skuggedal Reed, 68, died March 19 in Evansville, Indiana. An organist, harpsichordist, and pianist, she also served as librarian of the William H. Miller Library in the Vanderburgh Circuit and Superior Courts, Evansville, for more than 30 years.

Born June 19, 1948, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, she began piano studies at age three, later studying piano, organ, and music theory with Maitland Farmer. She earned an associate diploma (Piano) from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (English) with honors from Dalhousie University, Halifax, in 1969, and a Master of Music degree in organ performance from the University of Michigan as a student of Robert Glasgow in 1971.

At the University of Evansville, she served as organist of Neu Chapel (1976–-1983) and as adjunct professor of organ and harpsichord (since 2015). She also served as organist of Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church, Evansville (1984–1990), and Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Evansville (since 1991). She performed as principal harpsichordist of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra (since 1984) and was recently honored for “20 Years of Excellence.” She was a founding member and harpsichordist of the Evansville Chamber Orchestra (1981) and performed with the Harmonie Consort and the Evansville Chamber Singers.

Helen Reed performed numerous solo harpsichord and organ recitals throughout the eastern United States and Canada, for the Royal Canadian College of Organists National Convention in Halifax and for the Historical Keyboard Society of North America Conference at McGill University. Most recently, she was the treasurer for HKSNA. She was an active member of the Evansville AGO chapter for which she served as dean for several years.

Reed’s work as librarian began at the University of Michigan Law School where she worked as an assistant (1972–73). She then became the librarian of the Hochstein Music School, Rochester, New York (1973–1975). After serving as acting archivist in the University of Southern Indiana library (1978–1980), she worked at the William H. Miller Law Library in Evansville. She served as archival consultant of Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences (1984–85) and executive board member of Four Rivers Area Library (1988–1991).

Helen Skuggedal Reed is survived by her son, Eric Reed; daughter-in-law Sarah Zun; grandson, Oliver Reed; brother and sister-in-law, John Skuggedal and Deirdre Floyd; and former spouse, continued friend, and trusted colleague, Douglas Reed.

A memorial service and concert will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Evansville, on May 20. Contributions may be made to the Evansville Chapter AGO for the restoration of the historic Giesecke Organ, named in her memory: 609 SE Second Street, Evansville, Indiana 47713.