Elinore Farnum, born April 17, 1934, organist and music teacher, died October 30, 2024, in Schenectady, New York. She studied organ with Elmer Tidmarsh, Helen Henshaw, and Hugh Allen Wilson, and piano with Jeanette Odasz. She attended workshops at St. Dunstan’s Theological Seminary and at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York.
Farnum was organist/choir director for First Presbyterian Church, Schenectady, for almost 60 years. She was also organist for Congregation Gates of Heaven for many years and accompanist for Thursday Musical Club, Octavo Singers, and the Union College choir, all of Schenectady. Her annual concerts raised money to send hundreds of disadvantaged children to Christian Bible summer camps for nearly 60 years. Farnum toured England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as accompanist for members of the Octavo Singers and presented organ performances in Ireland at Church of the Resurrection in Killarney, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin; in Scotland at St. James Church in Edinburgh; and in England at Durham Cathedral in Durham. She was a member of the New York State Music Teachers Association and was a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists.
Elinore Farnum was predeceased by her husband, Floyd Farnum, and brothers, Dana Smith and Gerald Smith. She is survived by her sons, Jon (wife Debra), David (wife Nancy), Tom (wife Anne), and Charles; 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.
A funeral service was held November 4, at First Presbyterian Church with burial at Vale Cemetery, Schenectady. Memorial gifts may be made to First Presbyterian Church Bible Camp Fund, 209 Union Street, Schenectady, New York 12304 (fpcschdy.org).
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