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Nunc Dimittis

March 31, 2014
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03April 2014 Here & There Harpsichord News.pdf  
Mildred M. (Meyer) Brugger, age 88, of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, passed away January 28, 2014. Born November 2, 1925, in Erie, she worked for the Tellers Organ Company of Erie for many years before she and her husband, Eric, founded Brugger Releathering, where she continued for over 40 years until her retirement. She was a long-time member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Edinboro.
 
Mildred M. Brugger is survived by her husband of 67 years, Eric J. Brugger; daughters, Mary Frances Roach and husband Jim, of Millcreek, Dr. Rose Marie Attewell and husband Ray, of Jim Thorpe, and Jean Marie Jakubaszek and husband David, of North Tonawanda, New York; son, Joseph Brugger and wife Cheryl, of West Springfield, Pennsylvania; 12 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
 
Melvin Dickinson, 77, died on January 31 in his beloved Bach Haus in Louisville, Kentucky, the result of a heart attack. A native of Todd County, Kentucky, Dickinson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Kentucky, in Lexington. During these years, he served as assistant organist at Lexington’s Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal).
 
Bach was the common ground that united Melvin and Margaret Leupold as they embarked on Fulbright fellowships in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, from 1958 to 1960. They studied with the Bach organ master Helmut Walcha and became his assistants as the blind Walcha concertized throughout Europe.
 
The Bach bond became so strong that these two best friends were married in 1961, and formed the Bach Cantata Series at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Frankfort, Kentucky, where Mr. Dickinson served as organist-choirmaster for six years.
 
In 1964, he and his wife Margaret founded the Louisville Bach Society, continuing offerings of major choral-orchestral works of all centuries until 2011, all the while specializing in their first love, the oratorios, Masses, motets, and cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.
 
Melvin Dickinson was head of the organ and church music department at the University of Louisville for 42 years, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2001. During that time, he taught and nurtured many students who now hold church music positions throughout the country, even extending to Singapore, Ireland, and Germany. He was a careful and meticulous teacher who never let a student get away with anything, all the while maintaining a cheerful and caring attitude and a wonderful sense of humor with a very sharp wit.
 
After his tenure at the Church of the Ascension, he assumed the same position at St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, Louisville, from 1966–1979. His last choral move was to Calvary Episcopal Church, Louisville, from 1979–2012. Both Dickinsons were made Musicians Emeriti at Calvary in 2012. They continued to keep their minds active by presenting a monthly Bach Lecture-Recital series at the Bach Haus, the latest and final one being January 11, 2014.
 
Professor Dickinson received many awards in teaching, organ playing, and conducting during his decades-long devotion to excellent music. One of the more recent was the Kentucky Governor’s Award in the Arts in 2001, an individual artist award for lifetime achievement. His influence was far-reaching and prolific, and his Bach legacy will long be remembered and revered. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, with whom he made music for 52 years, two daughters, Maria (Joseph) and Michelle (John), and five granddaughters.
 
A memorial service was held February 8 at Calvary Episcopal Church, Louisville. Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to the Calvary Epis- copal Church Food Closet (821 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Kentucky 40203), or the Kentucky Bach Choir (Marlon Hurst, 239 Delmar Ave., Lexington, KY 40508).
 
—Stephen Schnurr
 
William A. Goodwin passed away on December 7, 2013. Born in Elgin, Illinois, on September 9, 1930, he graduated from Knox College with a degree in physics. Goodwin entered the army in 1952, was stationed in Maryland, and on his weekend leaves studied the organ. He worked for Baird Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for many years and was assigned to work with the Central Intelligence Agency on the now declassified SR71 aircraft in AREA 51. Goodwin later started his own company, Keyword Associates, which designed and installed recording systems for courtrooms. A member of the AGO for more than 50 years, he served as organist and music director at the First Congregational Church in Woburn, Massachusetts, where he played the large 1860 E.G. & G. Hook Organ (Opus 283) for over 30 years and established an organ restoration fund to maintain the instrument. He used his audio expertise to set up the First Con- gregational Church with its own audio/video room, to distribute their services to the community.
 
Goodwin was an avid sailor, longtime member of the Marblehead Yacht Club, strong supporter of the arts and animal organizations, and mentor of many musicians throughout the years. He was also a regular attendee and supporter of the Methuen Music Hall Organ Concerts presented every summer. A concert in Goodwin’s memory will take place at the First Congregational Church, Woburn, May 4, 2014, at 3 p.m.  

 

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