Robert A. “Bob” Luther dead at 75

Nunc Dimittis

Myrtle Groom, 86, died September 8 in Bellevue, Washington. She was organist and music director at First Congregational Church in Bellevue from 1978 until retiring in 1997. Previously, she held organist and choir director positions in Mississippi, Kansas, Bellevue, and Seattle.

Born Myrtle Jacobson on October 14, 1931, in Racine, Wisconsin, she began piano lessons at an early age. She played in church and at age thirteen won a contest sponsored by the Racine Symphony Orchestra, resulting in a concerto performance. As a junior at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, Wheaton, Illinois, she was the guest soloist at a concert of the S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. Band and Mixed Chorus in Racine, performing works of Brahms and Liszt. She received the Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College, with a major in piano performance and a minor in voice. Further studies were at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.

Myrtle Jacobson met fellow music student Lester H. Groom at Wheaton College. They married in 1955 and lived in Chicago, Illinois; Decatur, Georgia; Blue Mountain, Mississippi; Baldwin City, Kansas; and from 1967 in Bellevue. She supported her husband’s career in church music and university teaching, performing with him on occasion. After the birth of their first child, she took up organ study with her husband.

In addition to employment in churches, Groom taught piano and voice at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and taught piano and organ privately. She played for many weddings and memorials and remained active in retirement as a substitute organist and recitalist.

Myrtle Groom is survived by children Rebecca (John) te Velde, Vera (Mike) Liles, and Lester W. Groom, and grandchildren Vera te Velde, Brent te Velde (Jennifer Clamon), and Mary Liles. Memorials may be sent to the American Guild of Organists, Seattle Chapter, or Wheaton College organ students’ scholarships. A memorial service was held October 19 at Hope Presbyterian Church in Bellevue.

Robert A. “Bob” Luther, 75, of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, died September 21. He was born on September 22, 1942, in Sibley, Iowa, and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance and church music and a Master of Music degree in organ performance and music theory from Drake University, Des Moines. Luther also conducted study at the University of Michigan and the Eastman School of Music. His organ teachers included Marilyn Mason and Russell Saunders.

Luther served as principal organist from 1984 to 2004 at Zion Lutheran Church, Anoka, Minnesota, and continued as principal organist emeritus after his retirement. As a recitalist, he performed in the United States and in Europe, including Austria, Italy, England, Germany, France, and Spain. Luther taught at Carleton College, the University of Evansville, Drake University, and Grand View College. He was a music theory teaching assistant at the University of Michigan.

Active with the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, he was also a life member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and an honorary member of Pi Kappa Lambda. He is listed in Outstanding Educators of America, Dictionary of International Biography, Who’s Who in the Midwest, and other bibliographic publications.

Robert A. Luther is survived by a brother, LaRoy (Lila) and sister-in-law, Gretchen, nieces, and nephews. A celebration of Luther’s life occurred October 11 at Zion Lutheran Church, Anoka. Memorial gifts may be made to the church, 1601 4th Avenue, Anoka, Minnesota 55331.

John Weissrock died September 9 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born and raised in Ohio, earning a master’s degree in organ performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Wayne Fisher. He won the national organ playing competition at First Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana, at 21 years of age in 1960.

Shortly thereafter, he was selected to be organist and choirmaster for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Milwaukee, where he remained for 12 years. He made recordings at St. Paul’s of both organ and choral works with a group he founded called Outreach: Music of the Church.

Following that, for two years, Weissrock was organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Milwaukee. His last position was organist and director of music for 32 years at the Church of the Gesu on the Marquette University campus in Milwaukee. There he collaborated with members of the St. Louis Jesuit musicians to effect organ/guitar accompaniments for a number of their compositions. He gave monthly recitals as a way of raising money for the church’s organ fund, and he designed the rebuild project of the Gesu organ, originally built by W. W. Kimball, carried out by the Schantz Organ Company that ranks as one of the largest organs in the state. As a recitalist beyond the Milwaukee area, he performed at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and at St. Pierre Cathedral in Angouleme, France.

John Weissrock is survived by his sister, Rose Ellen Hehr, and her children.

Bryan Keith Gray, 72, died October 24, 2020. He was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, March 2, 1948. He started piano lessons before he was age ten and was accepted into the Governor’s Program for Gifted Children early in its formation, later returning to teach in the program. He graduated from Lake Charles High School in 1966 having been a member and captain of the school’s band. At McNeese State University, Lake Charles, he was a member of the marching band and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. During this time, Gray was awarded a Rotary Foundation Undergraduate Fellowship to study in Strasbourg, France, for a year. Upon his return he graduated from McNeese with two Bachelor of Arts degrees in organ performance and in music theory and composition.

While in France Gray converted to Catholicism. He would later enter Notre Dame Graduate School in New Orleans, Louisiana, studying for ordination. In 1979 he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. A few years later he was chosen to study canon law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., then returning to Baton Rouge as a canon lawyer and judge.

Due to health problems Gray decided to leave the priesthood. He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, to work for Nichols & Simpson, Inc., Organbuilders, where he remained for 28 years until his death. He was a member of the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Throughout his life he played organ at various churches in Lake Charles, including the Christian Science Church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and McNeese State University Catholic Student Center. He served as organist for his home church, First Christian Church of Lake Charles, under the direction of his father. 

Bryan Keith Gray is survived by his sister Patty G. Boyd (husband Mike) of Colbert, Georgia; sister-in-law Lynn H. Gray of Lake Charles, Louisiana; and several nieces and nephews.

William “Will” O. Headlee, 90, died November 9, 2020, in Syracuse, New York. He was Professor Emeritus of Organ and University Organist Emeritus at Syracuse University. He came to Syracuse to study with Arthur Poister and earned the Master of Music degree in 1953, following undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Jan Philip Schinhan. Hobart Whitman was his first organ teacher. Headlee held the associate certificate of the American Guild of Organists.

Headlee retired from Syracuse University in 1992 after 36 years of varied academic responsibilities and continuous choir directing activity, including six seasons with the Hendricks Chapel Choir. He served as organist at Park Central Presbyterian Church from 1992 until his death. During his retirement years he was the coordinator of the Arthur Poister Competition in Organ Playing.

Active in both the AGO and the Organ Historical Society, he served often on convention planning committees for both groups and was a member of the Historic Organs Citations Committee and the E. Power Biggs Fellowship Committee of the OHS. In 2016, he was awarded the OHS Distinguished Service Award.

A recording, 100 Years of Organ Music at Syracuse University (Raven OAR-440) was released in 1999 of the program he played for the Crouse College Centennial in 1989, performing on the 1950 Holtkamp Organ in Crouse Auditorium and the School of Music’s one-manual 1968 Schwenkedel organ. Another recording is forthcoming from the 2004 OHS convention where he presented a program on the W. W. Kimball organ at Saint Louis Catholic Church, Buffalo, New York.

William Headlee was buried next to his long-time partner, Richard C. Pitifer. A celebration of his life will be held at a later time.

Harold “Hal” Rutz, 90, died November 17, 2020. He was born March 20, 1930, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from Concordia University (then Concordia Teachers College), River Forest, Illinois, in 1952, and completed a Master of Music degree at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, in 1960. In 1975 he studied further at Cambridge University, England, and in 1985 at the Royal School of Church Music, London.

In June 1954, Rutz married Viola Larkin of Tampa, Florida, whom he met while they were college students. They were married for 62 years.

Rutz taught in elementary school and was a parish musician in Detroit, Michigan, from 1954 to 1956 and in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1956 to 1964, during which time children Faith, Paul, and Hope were born. The Rutz family moved to Austin, Texas, in summer 1964 when he accepted a position as head of the music department at Concordia University (then Concordia Lutheran College). He taught music theory, music history, hymnology, piano and organ lessons, and conducted the college choir until retiring in 1996, receiving Concordia’s Martin J. Neeb Teaching Excellence Award by vote of the student body that year. His choirs toured annually in the southern United States, and in 1985 he was co-leader of a tour to Martin Luther and J. S. Bach sites in what was then East Germany.

Rutz frequently performed organ recitals and, on occasion, he and son Paul performed together. Among his organ teachers were Hugo Gehrke, Paul Bunjes, Thomas Matthews, Peter Hurford, and Michael Radulescu. Rutz composed organ and choral music, and many of his compositions are published by Wayne Leupold Editions. Upon his retirement, he was named Professor Emeritus at Concordia University. 

He was active in the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and Hope Lutheran Church in Austin. In retirement he served on the board of La Follia Austin Baroque and volunteered for classical music station KMFA, Drive a Senior, and the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association. 

Harold Rutz was preceded in death by his wife, Viola; brother Carl; grandson Matthew Kelley; and daughter-in-law Sandra Henry. He is survived by daughter Faith Kelley and husband David; son Paul; daughter Hope Bartolotta and husband Peter; four Bartolotta grandchildren, Joy, Pierce, Eden, and Asher; niece Patricia Wiedenhoeft; and nephew Gerald Rutz. Memorial contributions may be made to the Professor Harold and Viola Rutz Music Department Endowment on the website of Concordia University, Austin (www.concordia.edu), entering the name of the endowment in the Other Gift Designation box.

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.

John Allen Ditto

John Allen Ditto died March 9. He was born February 12, 1945, in Kansas City, Missouri. At the age three he showed great interest in the piano and was taught by Pauline Chaney and Lucille Hoover of Plattsburg. Beginning at age nine and continuing through high school years, he studied piano at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, with organ lessons beginning in 1961.

After graduating from Plattsburg High School in 1963, Ditto went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree in organ and church music from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. In 1969 he earned his Master of Music degree in organ and sacred music from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. From 1969 until 1972 he was director of music for First Presbyterian Church, Evansville, Indiana. In 1972 he began his Doctoral of Musical Arts degree studies at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. 

After completing his doctorate, he returned to Missouri as assistant professor of organ, piano, and music history at Central Methodist University, Fayette, and organist at Linn Memorial United Methodist Church on campus from 1975 to 1982. He then began teaching at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music, a position he held until his retirement in 2015. During this time Ditto served as organist/music director at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Kansas City. He was a member of St. Paul’s Church and continued to be involved after his retirement.

Throughout his career Ditto played numerous recitals throughout the country and was an artist with Phyllis Stringham Concert Management. He was an active member of the Kansas City chapter of the American Guild of Organists, attending and performing at conventions and pedagogy conferences. During summer months, Ditto spent time on Lopez Island, Washington, where he was organist at Grace Episcopal Church. 

Upon retirement Ditto volunteered at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic and St. Luke’s Hospital. He also served as chairman of the program committee on the UMKC Retirees Association Board. He was a lector and chalice bearer at Bishop Spencer Place, where he resided the final year of his life.

John Allen Ditto is survived by his sister Mary Alice (Larry) Roberts, nephew Zach (Ashley) Nelson, and his great-nieces, Lilly and Sylvie Nelson, all of Plattsburg, Missouri. Services were held April 16 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Kansas City. Former students Shelly Moorman-Stahlman and Robert L. Bozeman played prelude and postlude, all pieces learned as students with Ditto. St. Paul’s Choir sang movements from Durufle’s Requiem at the Holy Eucharist service. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for the music program (stpaulskcmo.org), to the American Guild of Organists, New Organist Scholarship Fund in memory of John Ditto (agohq.org), or to John A. Ditto Memorial Music Scholarship, P. O. Box 136, Plattsburg, Missouri 64477.

—Robert L. Bozeman and Shelly Moorman-Stahlman

Paul S. Hesselink

Paul S. Hesselink, 82, died May 1. Born June 6, 1940, in Mitchell, South Dakota, he had been a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1993. He had previously lived in Iowa, Nebraska, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, and Virginia.

Hesselink was a graduate of Lynden (Washington) High School and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music in 1962 from Hope College, Holland, Michigan, where he majored in organ. He studied musicology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, under a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship; earned a Master of Arts degree in organ pedagogy from Ohio State University, Columbus; and received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from University of Colorado, Boulder. His organ teachers included Roger J. Rietberg, Wilbur C. Held, Arthur Poister, Everett J. Hilty, and Don A. Vollstedt. He studied harpsichord in Paris, France, with Davitt Moroney.

In 1966 Hesselink joined the faculty at Longwood College (now University), Farmville, Virginia, where for twenty-six years he taught organ, harpsichord, music theory, music form and analysis, church music, handbells, and music appreciation. He was named a recipient of the college’s Maria Bristow Starke Award for Excellence in Teaching, and he chaired the Longwood department of music for three years. During the 1978–1979 academic year he was a guest faculty member at the University of Colorado in the department of organ and church music. Upon early retirement from Longwood, he was named Professor Emeritus. He relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, to become dean and chief executive officer at Nevada School of the Arts, a private, non-profit community arts school, holding that position for twelve years. He also taught organ as adjunct faculty at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, beginning in 1993.

As a church musician, Hesselink served as the director of music (organ, choir, and handbells) at Farmville Presbyterian Church, Virginia, for twelve years and as organist at Christ Church Episcopal in Las Vegas for six years. He was an active member of the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and he served as program chair of the AGO Region IX Midwinter Conclave, hosted by the Southern Nevada Chapter in January 2006. From 2005 to 2019 he managed the chapter’s organ recital series bringing nationally and internationally known organists to perform in Las Vegas. Upon his retirement from that responsibility, the chapter honored him by naming the recital series the Paul S. Hesselink Organ Recital Series. Hesselink also held memberships in the Organ Historical Society, the College Music Society, the American Musicological Society, and the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society.

Active during his entire professional life as an organ and harpsichord recitalist, lecturer, and workshop leader, he also performed as a duo-piano team member with Longwood colleague Frieda Myers. He was harpsichordist-in-residence with the Roxbury Chamber Players of New York for “Music in Historic Places” during the summers of 1984 and 1985. In 1996 he was harpsichord soloist for the world premiere performance of the Nevett Bartow Concerto for Harpsichord with the Nevada Chamber Orchestra; he later recorded the work with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava for the MMC Recordings label. Hesselink was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar awards—at Yale University and later at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at the University of Southern California. The seminars resulted in a ten-year research project regarding the commissioning, composition, and publication of Schoenberg’s only work for organ, Variations on a Recitative, opus 40. At the end of the second summer seminar, he was invited to publish his research in the Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the composition of the Schoenberg organ work, his article, “Variations on a Recitative for Organ, Op. 40: Correspondence from the Schoenberg Legacy,” was republished in The American Organist (October and December 1991).

Hesselink was a force in the acquisition of the Maurine Jackson Smith Memorial Organ installed in 2004 in Dr. Rando-Grillot Recital Hall, Beam Music Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This instrument, which was designed, fabricated, and installed by Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau, Hamburg, Germany, is the largest mechanical-action organ in Nevada. In 2013 he published “As I Recall: A History of the Maurine Jackson Smith Organ at UNLV.”

Paul S. Hesselink is survived by a brother, Philip Hesselink of Omaha, Nebraska; two sisters, Elaine Helmus of Jefferson, Iowa, and Ardys Hansum of Omaha. Also surviving is his former student, longtime friend, and partner of more than fifty years, Linda Parker. His ashes were interred in the family plot in the Gibbsville, Wisconsin, cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Guild of Organists, the Southern Nevada Chapter of the AGO, or the Organ Historical Society.

Dominick Argento, 91, died February 20. Born October 27, 1927, he grew up in York, Pennsylvania. After high school graduation, he was drafted into the United States Army and served as a cryptographer. Following World War II, he entered the Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, Maryland, to study piano, but switched to composition, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1951 and a master’s degree in 1953. He would eventually earn a doctoral degree from Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. The recipient of Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, Argento studied in Italy with Luigi Dallapiccola.

In 1958, he and his wife, Carolyn Bailey, moved to Minneapolis, where he began teaching composition and theory at the University of Minnesota. He soon began receiving numerous commissions, particularly for opera. Among his organ works was Prelude for Easter Dawning.

In the 1970s, Argento began composing choral works, particularly for the choir of Plymouth Congregational Church of Minneapolis. He would be the recipient of commissions for choral music by Plymouth Church, the Cathedral of St. Mark, Minneapolis, the Buffalo Schola Cantorum, Harvard and Yale glee clubs, and other organizations. After retirement from the University of Minnesota in 1997, he was named professor emeritus, and continued to live in Minneapolis.

David Gifford, 97, of Northampton, Massachusetts, died January 26. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 16, 1921, and spent his childhood in Bedford and Cambridge. He attended the Longy School of Music, Cambridge, where he studied organ with E. Power Biggs. After serving in World War II as a Military Police Escort Guide, United States Army, Gifford attended Harvard University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music.

In 1949 he married Irene Davidson, and they moved to the Oberlin, Ohio, where he studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, earning a Master of Music degree. After graduation, the Giffords returned to Massachusetts and settled in Hingham. He became organist and music director at the Old Ship Church, Hingham, and worked as a pipe maker and voicer at Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Boston.

He eventually studied for an education degree at Lesley College and taught at Walter F. Dearborn School, Cambridge, and at the Gifford School, founded by his mother, Margaret Gifford, in Weston, Massachusetts. Upon leaving teaching, he returned to organbuilding and became a pipe maker and reed voicer for C. B. Fisk, Inc., Gloucester, Massachusetts, and served as organist at Newburyport Presbyterian Church. After retirement, the Giffords moved to Charlemont, Massachusetts, and David Gifford became organist for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ashfield, Massachusetts. After his wife’s death in 1999, he moved to Cummington, Massachusetts, and was organist at the Village Congregational Church. Eventually Gifford retired from active organ playing and moved to Williamsburg and then to Northampton, Massachusetts.

David Gifford is survived by his son Ralph Gifford and wife Amy of Westwood, New Jersey, and daughter Anne Dodge and husband Edward of Barkhamsted, Connecticut. A memorial service was held February 16 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ashfield. Memorial contributions may be made to The Gifford School, 177 Boston Post Rd., Weston, MA 02493.

Robert “Robbie” Anthony Giroir, Jr., 59, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, died December 23, 2018, after a brief illness. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Louisiana State University and in 1985 became organist and director of music at St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral, Baton Rouge, as well as director of choral studies at Baton Rouge Magnet High School.

During Giroir’s tenure, the choirs at the school consistently earned superior ratings at district and state choral assessments. In the last 15 years, choirs under his direction performed in England, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, and Vatican City. He was named “Music Teacher of the Year” by the Baton Rouge Symphony League for 2010–2011. As director of music and organist at St. Joseph Cathedral, he oversaw the acquisition of the Reuter organ in 1993 as part of the parish’s bicentennial.

His funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph Cathedral on December 27 and was televised live throughout the Diocese of Baton Rouge. His best friend and protégé, Ryan Hebert of the University of Tampa, accompanied the funeral. Members of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra provided a chamber ensemble. The choirs of the cathedral and Baton Rouge Magnet High School sang, assisted by alumni of both groups, comprising more than 130 choristers in all.

Robert Anthony Giroir, Jr., is survived by his mother, Myrtis Leblanc Giroir; sister and brother-in-law, Danette and Ronald Legendre; and nephews with their wives and children, Ladd, Abby, and Landon Legendre, and Brant, Brittney, and Harper Jane Legendre.

Noel Rawsthorne, 89, died January 28. Born December 24, 1929, he studied with Harold Dawber at Royal Manchester College of Music (now Royal Northern College of Music), after which he studied with Fernando Germani in Italy and Marcel Dupré in France.

Rawsthorne was organist of Liverpool Cathedral, UK, from 1955 until 1980, when he was named organist emeritus. From 1980 until 1984 he was also organist of St. George’s Hall, Liverpool. As a recitalist, he performed throughout the UK, Europe, and the former Soviet Republic. In 1994, the University of Liverpool awarded him an honorary doctorate of music. A memorial service was held March 3 at the cathedral of Liverpool.

Susan Palo Cherwien

Susan Louise Palo Cherwien died December 28, 2021. Born May 4, 1953, in Ashtabula, Ohio, she was active in music in school and at Zion Lutheran Church (Finnish-American), Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. Her undergraduate degree in church music and voice was earned from Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, in 1975. Her junior year was spent at the Berlin Church Music School, Spandau, Germany. After graduating from Wittenberg, she returned to Berlin to complete a graduate degree at the Berlin Conservatory of Music. She was active in the American Lutheran Church in Berlin, a mission church of the Lutheran Church in America (now part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).

It was through this church in Berlin that Susan Palo met David Cherwien, who came in 1979 to study at the Berlin Church Music School. They returned to the United States in 1981 and were married on August 8 at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two weeks later they moved to Seattle where David served at First Lutheran Church of Richmond Beach. Two sons were born, Jeremiah in 1983 and Benjamin in 1986. In 1987 the family moved to the Chicago area for David to serve at St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Park Ridge, Illinois. During these years, Susan earned a master’s degree from Mundelein University and began her career as a writer. Since 1990 the family has lived in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and has been a part of the community at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, where Susan served in many capacities as volunteer, sacristan, and soloist.

As a poet, Susan Cherwien wrote extensively, especially in two areas: hymn texts and reflections for hymn festivals, published by Augsburg Fortress and MorningStar Music Publishers. Her hymns are included in hymnals of many denominations, including Evangelical Lutheran Book of Worship and its newest supplement hymnal, All Creation Sings.

Susan Louise Palo Cherwien is survived by her husband, David; sons and daughters-in-law, Jeremiah and Karen and their children Hannah and James Cherwien in Batesville, Arkansas; Benjamin and Angel and their daughter Gabriella Hull Cherwien in Blaine, Minnesota; brother John Palo (Freddie) of Lenexa, Kansas; and sister Nancy Bukowski of Sacramento, California. A funeral service was held on December 31, 2021, at Mount Olive Lutheran Church. Memorials may be directed to Mount Olive Lutheran Church debt reduction fund (mountolivechurch.org) or National Lutheran Choir (nlca.com).

Merrill Nathaniel (“Jeff”) Davis III

Merrill Nathaniel (“Jeff”) Davis III, 80, died October 16, 2021, in Rochester, Minnesota. Born February 13, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois, he lived most of his childhood and teen years in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was an active organist while still in grade school, and at age 15 was dean of the La Crosse area chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Davis earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, and studied organ privately with Arthur B. Jennings, Jr. He completed his Master of Music degree at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, as a student of Robert T. Anderson. Additional studies and coaching were with Willard Irving Nevins, Gerald A. Bales, Arthur Poister, and Heinrich Fleischer.

Davis served as musician for various congregations, including First Congregational Church, La Crosse, Wisconsin; St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul Church, Zumbro Lutheran Church, First Unitarian Universalist Church, and the Congregational (United Church of Christ) Church, all in Rochester, Minnesota. He was a frequent guest organist at Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago, Illinois. Davis concertized widely and was known for his skills as an improviser. In 1974, he was one of four finalists at the International Organ Improvisation Competition at St. Bavo Church, Haarlem, the Netherlands, and the first American to be invited to compete there. He was an active member of the Southeast Minnesota AGO Chapter.

Davis was also involved in the pipe organ industry as a sales representative and freelance consultant. The firms for which Davis worked included the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Rodgers Instruments, and Rieger-Kloss of Krnov, Czech Republic. He also consulted on behalf of other companies, in particular Hendrickson Organ Company, St. Peter, Minnesota. He also was involved as a personal financial advisor, working for IDS.

Merrill Nathaniel Davis III is survived by two sons and two sisters-in-law. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, a sister, and by his first wife, Jane Schleiter Davis, and his second wife, June Fiksdal Davis. A memorial concert is planned for February 12 at the Congregational Church, Rochester, Minnesota.

Richard Stanley Houghten

Richard Stanley Houghten, 78, died December 29, 2021, from complications following heart surgery. Born October 7, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan, he was introduced to the organ partly from exposure to the Barton organ at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theatre, and partly at an organbuilding class taught by Robert Noehren at the University of Michigan, where he was studying psychology. He eventually apprenticed to Noehren as an organbuilder, as did classmate Jerroll Adams; Adams and Houghten would soon be sharing a barn-workshop in Milan, Michigan, and regularly collaborating.

A conscientious and well-rounded organbuilder, Richard became best known as a specialist in consoles and electrical systems. Early in his career he worked for Solid State Logic, eventually becoming president and board chairman. In this role he was central to the industry’s adoption of solid-state technology, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s when such equipment was still novel. He was further central in evolving multilevel combination actions and other advanced console aids. By 1995, he was fully independent of SSL, undertaking projects and occasional organbuilding. From 1989 he also acted as North American representative for the German supplyhouse/organbuilder Aug. Laukhuff.

For Houghten, demystifying solid-state technology was religion. He not only sold early systems but installed them, where, on site, he was intent on showing local technicians how to diagnose and service the new equipment. The reliable results of these early projects earned him a high reputation. Projects readily came his way, often without competition, and his client list over 57 years reads as impressively as any could. In the last 15 years alone, St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire; Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Calvary Church, Memphis, Tennessee; the Community of Jesus, Orleans, Massachusetts; and Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts, sought his work. In turn, Richard regularly collaborated with
J. Zamberlan & Co. for woodworking and his trusted affiliate Vladimir Vaculik, whose wiring had all the Houghten trademark elegance.

Houghten was equally active as a subcontractor, working largely in the background to builders wanting clear systems design coupled to immaculate installation and wiring. The relationships he forged with those shops, together with his technical mastery and reassuring demeanor, meant that it was often he, not the electronics manufacturer, who would be called in a crisis. “Is there smoke? Good. Next question . . . .”

Throughout his career, Houghten retained connections to the University of Michigan. During Jerroll Adams’s long tenure as organ curator there, the Houghten team renovated consoles for many campus organs, including the large four-manual at Hill Auditorium. The University link was further strengthened through a steady stream of organ students who also served as housemates in the Houghten condominium, tending to the cats and technology Richard gathered there.

The funeral for Richard Stanley Houghten was held January 12 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Detroit. A broader celebration of his life is being scheduled immediately preceding the 2022 Atlantic City Convention of the American Institute of Organbuilders, with which Houghten was centrally active and at whose regular October gatherings he celebrated a half-century of his own birthdays. That same community remembers him as an uncommonly generous colleague, ready to share knowledge, solve a problem, or make something as good as it could be for the benefit of all organbuilding.

—Jonathan Ambrosino, Arlington, Massachusetts

Marilyn Kay Stulken Rench

Marilyn Kay Stulken Rench, 80, organist, teacher, recitalist, author, and genealogist, died December 28, 2021, in Franklin, Wisconsin. She was born August 13, 1941, in Hastings, Nebraska, and studied organ and church music at Hastings College in Hastings, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963. During this time, she had several piano and organ students and from 1962–1965 served as organist and program director at All Faiths Chapel, Ingleside, Nebraska. At Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, she studied organ performance and church music, earning a Master of Music degree in 1967 and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1975. One of her positions while in Rochester was as a sewing therapist at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Stulken Rench held a number of church positions, including organist and choir director at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Pittsford, New York, 1966–1973; organist at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1975–1979; director of music at Trinity Lutheran Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 1979–1985; and organist at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Racine, Wisconsin, from 1986 to the time of her death. In addition, she taught at Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; the University of Iowa, Iowa City; Carthage College, Kenosha; University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha; and Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon.

On December 27, 1984, in Omaha, Nebraska, Marilyn Stulken married Thomas R. Rench, a pipe organ builder. Marilyn often played programs on instruments that Tom had built or restored. As a lecturer and organ recitalist, she appeared throughout the United States and Canada, including ten recitals for national conventions of the Organ Historical Society. After Tom installed a pipe organ in the family room of their home, the instrument was used for practicing and teaching. When her multiple sclerosis precluded her from playing the pedals, Tom engineered the keyboard at St. Luke’s so that a note played by her left hand could sound that same note on the pedalboard.

Stulken Rench is the author of the Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship (1981) and An Introduction to Repertoire and Registration for the Small Organ (1995), and coauthor with Catherine Salika of Hymnal Companion to Worship, Third Edition (1998). She was one of three contributors who assisted in the preparation of historical notes on the hymns in The New Century Hymnal (1995). With Martin A. Seltz and others, she compiled Indexes for Worship Planning (1996), and with James R. Sydnor and Bert Polman, she edited Amazing Grace: Hymn Texts for Devotional Use (1994). She contributed an article, “Hymnody from German, Scandinavian and Finnish Sources,” to The New Century Hymnal Companion (1998), and “Hospital Hymnody as Transition Hymnody” to We’ll Shout and Sing Hosanna: Essays on Church Music in Honor of William J. Reynolds (1998). She is the author of With One Voice Reference Companion (2000) and authored numerous articles and reviews for musical journals. Stulken Rench was active in the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, the Hymn Society of America, and, for a time, was the worship representative on the Southport District Cabinet of the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Synod of the LCA (Lutheran Church in America).

Marilyn Kay Stulken Rench was predeceased by her husband, Thomas R. Rench, and a stepson, Evan Rench. (For an obituary for Thomas R. Rench, see the January 2016 issue, p. 8). She is survived by her stepchildren Alan (Mary) Rench, Eric (Bobbie) Rench, and Kari (Jeff) Eschmann; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; as well as two sisters and a brother. A memorial service will be held in the spring. Memorial gifts may be made to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 614 Main Street, Racine, Wisconsin 53403.