Joseph Edgar (Joe) Clipp
Joseph Edgar (Joe) Clipp, 88, of Keedysville, Maryland, died September 22 in Hagerstown, Maryland. Born June 19, 1937, in Bakersville, Maryland, he graduated from Boonsboro High School in 1955 and was the husband of the late Vivian Clipp for 63 years. He had been a longtime member of St. Peter Lutheran Church, Keedysville, where he served as church treasurer, Sunday School teacher, Sunday School superintendent, council member, and choir member. Clipp was employed by M. P. Möller of Hagerstown and was one of the founders of Trivo Company, Inc., also of Hagerstown, which produced and repaired reed pipes for organs of all types.
Joseph Edward Clipp is survived by sons, Lyndell (Fonda), Brent (Peggy), Galen (Sandra), and Dolan (Salli), five grandchildren, a step grandson, three great-grandchildren, and two step great-grandchildren. He is further survived by a sister Linda Ridenour (Marvin), two sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews.
A memorial service took place September 29 at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Keedysville. Interment was at Boonsboro Cemetery, Boonsboro, Maryland. Memorial gifts may be made to St. Peter Lutheran Church, Post Office Box 187, Keedysville, Maryland 21756, or to a charity of your choice.
James Herbert Lazenby
James Herbert Lazenby, 82, died September 14, 2024. Born April 30, 1942, he was raised in the Utica area of Upstate New York. He began his musical career as a treble chorister in the choir of men and boys at Grace Church, Utica. At age 15, he assumed his first position as organist in a small Baptist church in North Utica, continuing through high school. Following graduation from Whitesboro Central High School in 1960, Lazenby attended the Crane School of Music at Potsdam, graduating in 1964 with a degree in music education. Though a piano major in college, he studied organ privately with George L. Jones, Jr., organist at Trinity College, Potsdam, and served as his assistant for his four years as an undergraduate. Lazenby taught vocal music in Castleton-on-Hudson schools from 1964 until 1967 and studied organ with Lloyd E. Cast, Jr., organist at the Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, New York.
From 1969 until 1988 Lazenby served as organist and choirmaster at St. George’s Episcopal Church, Schenectady, New York, while also serving occasionally as conductor of the Burnt Hills Oratorio Society. He served briefly as minister of music at Trinity United Methodist Church on Capitol Hill in Albany and taught at Schenectady County Community College before relocating to North Carolina in 1990.
After serving as interim director of music at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Lazenby was appointed organist at St. Benedict’s Anglican Church, Chapel Hill, where he also served as clerk of the vestry. During his time in North Carolina, Lazenby served as assistant conductor of the Choral Society in Durham and as assistant to the curator of organs at Duke University Chapel. Beginning in 1964, he was a member of the American Guild of Organists and later the Organ Historical Society and the Association of Anglican Musicians.
James Herbert Lazenby is survived by his brother, Robert George Lazenby and his wife, Carol, of Canandaigua, New York, and Ocala, Florida; and his sister, Patricia Lazenby Smith and her husband, Paul, of Salida, Colorado. Memorial services were held September 25, 2024, at St. George’s Church, Schenectady, and on October 19, 2024, at St. Benedict’s Church, Chapel Hill.
Martin Gerard James Neary
Martin Gerard James Neary, born March 28, 1940, in London, UK, died September 27. He was a chorister of the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace from age eight, singing at the christening of Charles III in 1948 and the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. He studied theology and music at Cambridge University, where he was organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College. Neary married Penelope Warren in April 1967. He served as organist and director of music at Winchester Cathedral from 1972 to 1988 and was organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey from 1988 to 1998. In 1984 he was artist-in-residence at the University of California Davis. After leaving Westminster Abbey, he served as conductor of the Catholic Paulist Boys Choir and director of music at First Congregational Church, both in Los Angeles. Between 1992 and 2024, he was chairman of the Herbert Howells Society. While at Winchester, Neary commissioned new works from Jonathan Harvey and John Tavener.
Neary led his cathedral choir on overseas tours, and in addition to his own organ recitals at the cathedral he invited organists from across the world to play there. With his assistant organists James Lancelot and Timothy Byram-Wigfield he was responsible for the planning of the rebuilding and enlargement of the cathedral organ by Harrison & Harrison between 1986 and 1988.
As the organist at Westminster Abbey, he was musical director for the funeral service for Princess Diana. In the 1998 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian
Order (LVO).
Martin Neary is survived by his wife Penelope, daughters Nicola and Alice, and son Thomas. For more information, see “A Conversation with Martin Neary,” by Mark Buxton, March 1996, pages 10–12.
